Quarantine
by luthercore
Summary: Based off of Nintendo's Splatoon 2 Octo Expasnion, this story has a twist, with four escapees instead of just one. will it be easier with extra hands, or harder with more to manage? read on to fulfill the curiosity that lies behind the lore of this beautiful DLC. Where can Quarantine be found? Wattpad/ a03/ FanFiction/ -
1. Prologue

A massive dome, completely clean of ink. A deep blue sky stretched far beyond what an ordinary inkling could see, the faint twinkling stars dancing under the pale moonlight beaming into the circle. It was a simple hemisphere-like structure, consisting primarily of stone, brick, and some metal scraps. Another chunk of land sat further away, a launchpad placed in the center of it. An inkling, her sparkling yellow eyes scanning the violet sky before her. Soft, milky sheets of moonlight illuminated her pale skin, turning it to a gentle shade of cool pale yellow, the distant noises of what seemed to be machinery echoing in her pointy ears. She sat cross-legged in the center, allowing the rather chilly air of approaching autumn brushing her flesh with a gentle bite. Her tentalocks were up in a bun, her golden ink stunning against the bleak background. She sighed quietly, her breath puffing out in front of her.

Distant footsteps suddenly sounded behind her, causing her to snap her head around violently towards the sound, snatching her hero charger, and making herself stiff and alert as a hawk. A dark and rather large silhouette stood atop the launchpad, its species, gender, and motive, completely unknown to the inkling. It seemed to disappear for a minute, but then dread hit her like a brick once she realized it was superjumping towards her. Relief swept her slightly at the realization of it at least being a cephalopod like herself, but her relief soon perished as its potential motive entered her mind. It was relatively tall, and it appeared to be an inkling, but with rounded ears and sleek eyes without a bridge over its nose connecting the masks over its eyes. It stood there, most likely a male, judging by its tall form and lack of a chest. Strangely enough, he had very long marks dragging from his crimson eyes down his chin, and barely reaching to his chin. The inkling stared for a second longer, and then shot upward, pointing her charger at him, and storing a full charge of ink, pointing it at the stranger. "A-are you an o-octoling?" She stammered, her voice quivering, intimidated by this figure. He wore a large witch-like hat, with a thick white sweater, white combat boots, and black pants with a deep violet stripe on each side, that presumably being his ink color at the moment. He stood there, looking her in the eye and refusing to break eye contact. His posture and body language was calm and relaxed, apparently not afraid of the agent before him. "W-well, are you h-hostile?" She asked, gulping and straightening her spine to appear more erect and threatening. He smirked slightly, apparently amused. "Of course not, darling," he finally answered, a thick octarian accent in his voice. She relaxed a little bit, relieved by his compliance, but not enthused by the nickname given to her. She sighed and dropped her charger down slightly, releasing its charge and relaxing slightly. "Then what the hell are you doing here? Everyone in Octo Valley has it etched into their minds that all octolings are hostile. I'm surprised you got past the outpost," she said pointedly, crossing her arms over her pale red sweatshirt. "Bored," he said casually, stepping towards her with his arms behind his back. "I would ask you the same question," he began, his little smile widening slightly. "Bored.." she mumbled, her black paisley bandana fluttering in the gentle breeze. "This is where you fought Octavio, correct?" He asked suddenly, peering around at the emptiness. "Yeah, what of it?" She asked, sitting back down, setting her charger to her side. He took a seat next to her, but squatting instead of sitting in the tea lady position, like the inkling was. "Didn't think you'd wanna come back, right? I wouldn't.." There was a slight pause. "Y'know, since it would bring back unfavorable memories, yeah?" He said, his voice trailing off a little. "Yeah.." She murmured, gazing around the area. "It's just so beautiful.." She breathed, still staring off into the night sky like a 5 year old does. "Reminds me of something.." The octoling said flirtatiously, glancing over at the inkling by his side. "We've barely known each other for like, what, five minutes, and you're already flirting with me?" She laughed, blushing slightly by the sudden affirmation, subtle as it is. "Yep," he replied, a twinge of cockiness in his tone. "Whatever you say, octoboy," She scoffed jokingly, glaring at him playfully whilst he smirked back.

His massive hat bounced on the gentle wind, the deep violet undertone quite attractive. His crimson eyes sparkled against the sky, his tan skin tone lightly illuminated by the moonlight. The inkling next to him was starstruck, gazing him up and down. He took notice of this quite quickly, but waited to say something until after a little while. "Am I a flashlight, or are you just happy to see me?" He asked rather provocatively, raising his eyebrow while she quickly looked away, considerably flustered. "Shut up, smartass! I barely know you! I don't even know your damn name!" She retorted sharply, baring her teeth. The octoling laughed out loud at this comment, clearly amused with her attitude. "Well, for the record, I don't know yours either," he responded pointedly, still smirking at her. "Well, I'm Natasha," she said, her expression softening slightly. "Pretty name you have there. A little better than 'Agent 4', in my opinion," he chuckled, holding out his hand for her to take while getting up and standing up in front of her. She smiled and blushed slightly at his remark, and proceeded to slip her pale hand into his tanned one. "So, you?" Natasha asked shyly, standing closely in front of him, their hands still intertwined. "Oh, my name? I thought it was smartass," he grinned, giving Natasha the stink eye playfully. "I can't believe you," she whined, yanking her hand from his grip, slowly becoming skeptical. "Oh, relax. I'm just playing around," he said jokingly, a stupid smile plastered on his face. She huffed and crossed her arms, turning her head around to look at the octoling before her with a sassy expression. His grin faltered into a gentle smile, his deep red eyes twinkling like the stars behind his enormous hat and fluffy white sweater. "Iso Dunar."


	2. Chapter One - Lab

Vai's back screamed in agony, as her aching fingers brushed against her final product, pride still warming her heart and making the physical pain less noticeable. It was a small invention, almost seemingly insignificant, but the power packed into this miniature device was immeasurable. It was a small watch that was black and dark gray in color, with a small touch screen, a little adjustable gear on the left side, and a small button below it.

Her yellow eyes glimmered as she scanned her creation. Its name, XRS-279. Her latest invention, finally complete. A teleportation device.

She strapped it on her left wrist securely, ready to test her final product, despite her exhaustion. Her tentacles flicked about in anticipation, as she was anxious to find out if this project is up to par. Finally, after a deep breath, she shakily pressed the button below the gear, the watch powering on.

The gear above the button determined range. Turning it forward projected a small hologram. It was a simple image of a blue box with a large X in the center of it, indicating how far away you would be teleporting. Turning it forward would place you further ahead, and twisting it towards you would place you closer to yourself. Vai twisted the knob, and inhaled sharply.

The touch screen was for determining the location and direction in which you would teleport. There was a radar on the screen with a circle in the center of it representing the user of the device. There were eight different directions: north, south, east, west, northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest. Vai hesitantly tapped on northeast and gulped, her shaky finger pressing the button below the gear once more, to finally execute the command.

In a flash, she felt her being warp into a strange form, and then morph back into her original self. She slightly opened her clenched eyelids to see that her experiment, and her invention, were a success. XRS-279 was her winning invention. She'll finally be promoted, and she was elated. Her exhaustion evaporated as she bolted out of her lab to wait for a train.

Her device seemed to sparkle proudly on her wrist as she stepped onto the train. She took a seat towards the end, eager to get home to her friends in her duplex.

Each little building housed two girls and two boys, none of which were blood related.

Vai's roommate was Nora, a soft and emotional girl with her tentacles pulled up into a ponytail, unlike Vai's, which rested on her shoulders freely. The boys in the neighboring duplex were Mano and Krahn. Nora liked Krahn quite a bit, and Krahn was visibly fond of Nora. Krahn was more of a nerd, and he was a weapon inventor and weapon designer. Mano was training to be in the Octarian Army, and Nora was an armor and clothing designer.

Vai was more into technology, and invented all sorts of unique tools that would aid the octarians in battle. Vai didn't really know if she felt any sort of fondness towards Mano as Nora did Krahn, and for this, she felt guilt nipping away at her. She felt as if she should feel something for him, but she simply didn't. She liked Mano, but she didn't think of having some sort of deeper relationship with him. Although Mano was frequently on her mind, she never really took it for granted, and saw him as a close friend. Maybe even a brother.

Mano was an ambitious octoling, courageously fighting his way to the top. He prioritized physical strength, and stomped any opponent who dared to challenge him. He wasn't too intelligent, and he thought more with the brain between his legs, rather than the brain between his shoulders. Despite his nerve, he seems to have a more emotional side of him, but it's heavily reserved for his closest friends. His serious demeanor keeps him away from other octolings, emotionally and physically, since he feels comfortable amongst his current friends. He tends to come off as rude and overzealous, due to his ambitious nature and arrogant attitude. Other octolings typically steer clear of Mano for these reasons, and Mano doesn't seem to mind.

Krahn was social and friendly, somehow optimistic, and ridiculously intuitive. As little octopi, school was always strict and strenuous, but Krahn was always the light of everyone else's dark little day.

Vai was ripped from her thoughts as the train screeched to a violent halt in front of the station. The brutal beams of cold, white light spread harshly upon her figure. She narrowed her eyes and lifted her right hand over her forehead, protecting her eyes from the overbearing columns of light. Her boots gently clopped the ground, the sound of it against hard flooring echoing down the corridor.

She reached the end and walked through the automatic doors, her lab coat drifting effortlessly on the nonexistent breeze only brought into existence by Vai's brisk walking pace.

The armor she wore under her coat was quite skimpy and didn't cover much skin, which wasn't good to wear at the always freezing cold train station.

She shivered as she trudged to her duplex, a warm yellow glow attempting to pierce the thick red curtains draped over the window on the inside. She walked up to the little building, graffiti sprinkled sparsely on the gray bricks. She brought up her gloved hand and knocked on the deep violet door feebly, her other hand clenching her coat. The door swung open, and Nora flung herself around Vai, her arms wrapping tightly around her. "Vai! You're back! How was the nerd lab? Did everything go well?" "Uh..well.." "Oh Lord, what happened? Are you alright? you-" Nora's incessant interrogating came to a temporary close, as Krahn sleepily opened his green door, where Mano was presumably asleep. "Nora, if you don't shut up, you're gonna wake the beast- Oh, Vai! Why are you back from the lab so late? And why do you still have on your equipment?" Krahn asked drowsily, his light blue gown floating lazily in the strange breeze. It took Vai a minute to realize that she hadn't returned her glasses, coat, and mask, but she didn't really care. She would return them tomorrow. "Oh shut up Krahn, you know we're underground. You've been reading too many of those magazines!" Nora growled, still holding onto Vai. "Or you could just call me an avid reader," Krahn responded, leaning against the wall with his legs crossed and an elbow supporting him. He smirked slightly as Nora rolled her eyes and have him a look.

"Well, excuse Mister Big-fro-small-brain here, but really, how did it all go?" Nora asked curiously, excitement edging her voice. Vai felt sleepiness taking over her being as she attempted to give them the exciting news. "Well, I finally finished what I've been working on for these past few months, and it was a success," Vai stated matter-of-factly, trying to prevent the fatigue from slurring her words.

"That's great, Vai!" Nora said cheerfully, finally letting go of Vai and resting her hands on her shoulders. "Thank you, Nora," Vai said gratefully, forcing her facial muscles to contort into something that slightly, and hopefully, resembled a smile. "Pretty cool, squiddo. Keep up that good work!" Krahn said obnoxiously, throwing up a weird symbol with his free hand that was previously draped by his side. "Krahn, we're not squids. What are you even doing with your hand?" Nora asked pointedly, her annoyance painted clearly on her face. "It's a peace sign! Get with the times, Nora," Krahn teased, grinning cheekily. Nora huffed, but didn't respond.

"Vai, you really need to get some sleep. Everyone else is sleeping," Nora remarked, wanting to get her exhausted roommate to bed. "Well I mean, you're not asleep," Krahn mumbled, standing up straight and turning back to his shared room with Mano. Nora only glared at him.

"Thanks again, Nora," Vai repeated drowsily, finally submitting to the overpowering feeling of lethargy. "Thanks Nora, for being oh so loving and affectionate, and totally not a lesbian," Krahn said mockingly, opening his door. "Go to bed Krahn!" Nora yelled, slightly flustered. "Okay MOM," Krahn replied defiantly, closing the door behind him as he left to go back to the warmth of his room.

"Vai, just so you know, I'm not a lesb-" "I know," Vai interrupted, a smirk creeping onto her face from underneath her mask. "You like Krahn, Krahn likes you. I can see it pretty well," she said calmly, her smirk growing wider as Nora's face reddened. "W-Well, don't you like Mano?" Nora retorted, trying to get back at Vai. "Do you think this is like that 'high school' that is always in those Inkopolis magazines?" Vai shot back, still smirking. "N-No- I don't even read those! Krahn tells me about this high school, and of proms and friends and nice squids, oh how lovely it sounds!" Nora beamed, smiling joyously now. She quickly caught herself and rearranged herself. "You need to go to bed," Nora said sternly, changing the subject. "Alright," Vai chuckled, stretching as Nora ushered her into their room. Vai's eyes didn't take note of their surroundings as she stumbled towards her bed, her eyelids fluttering. without a second thought, she flopped onto the bed and passed out, leaving her rectangle glasses, face mask, and lab coat all on.


	3. Chapter Two - Morning

Vai groaned as her senses slipped back under her control, her head throbbing slightly. The soft, satin-like blanket draped over her body slipped into her lap, as she sat up and held her head in her hands. "Vai! You're finally up!" Nora shouted from the next area, presumably the small kitchen. "Mhmm.." Vai mumbled, massaging her temples gently as the plain ebony walls of the right duplex starting to lose their fuzziness while her vision cleared. "Hey, don't you have that presentation thingy today? You kinda flopped down and conked out last night after talking to Krahn and I for a little while, and I was a little worried," Nora went on, seemingly oblivious to Vai's response. "Hm?" Vai hummed, her half lidded eyes drowsily flicking to Nora dancing around the kitchen to make breakfast. Typically there is a community breakfast for all of the adolescent octolings, but the group of four choose not to attend, since it isn't required, and Nora's cooking is much more impressive than the bland uniform breakfast the lesser octotroopers serve weekly.

Vai's thoughts collected little by little, until her awareness of her impending doom hit her like a brick. "No no no no.. I'm going to fail! I can't afford to fail! If I'm late, ME of all octolings, shows up late, I'm absolutely cancelled!" Vai sputtered, her voice trembling as panic began to set in. She felt her world start to distort almost immediately as it all came together, whilst her thoughts swirled into an incoherent jumble. "Vai? Vai! Oh God-" Nora stammered, dropping her cooking utensils and leaving the burner on, rushing over to Vai with incredible speed, powered by adulation. Nora wrapped her arms around Vai, clinging onto her trembling form in an attempt to rid the other girl of her anxieties. Nora shushed her quietly, murmuring small affirmations into Vai's ears as she desperately attempted to regain control of herself once more. Two more pairs of footsteps were heard as Vai calmed down a little more, Nora still comforting her until she's completely convinced that Vai is alright. "Vai! Are you alright?" Krahn exclaimed, worry prominent in his rushed tone. "I-I'm alright, just a little frazzled, haha," Vai answered nervously, smiling crookedly at Krahn. "Well, what's it all about?" Krahn queried, squatting next to Nora and greeting her with a smile and a nod, whilst Nora was on her knees and stroking Vai's tentalocks. "Ah, she has this project presentation thing today, and she overslept a little bit," Nora explained carefully, snatching a glance at the octoling below her, slowly calming down and regaining control over herself.

"Nora," a fourth voice, much deeper than the others, inserted itself into the conversation, luring everyone's gazes towards it. "Mano! Didn't even see you there, buddy!" Nora said nervously, shaking her head in an attempt to forget that she flinched that aggressively. There was a heartbeat of awkward silence, and Mano's deep crimson gaze pierced Nora's soft violet one. He was leaning against a pillar that was part of the wall that separated the living room and the kitchen. "Your burner," he said plainly, his eyes drifting to the stove, his shoulder still pressed up on the wall and his left knee bent, his arms crossed lazily over his stomach. "OH! Dammit.." she mumbled, scooting backwards slightly and allowing Vai's head to gently slip from her fingers. Krahn took Nora's place, holding Vai's head in his lap. Nora quickly tended to her now burnt eggs, as Mano smirked slightly at her feeble attempt to restore the edibility of the now charred breakfast. Krahn got up from where he sat to assist Nora in cleaning up the mess, and help with making breakfast again, despite his preposterous cooking ability. He still enjoys helping Nora with anything he can. Vai sat up now, her breathing deep and calm, compared to her heavy labored breathing from only a few minutes prior. Mano slowly heaved himself away from the column supporting his form, making his way towards Vai with an entrancingly slow pace. Mano was an incredibly handsome octoling, his jawline sharp, his eyes sleek and a luxurious shade of red, his slightly tan skin tone mesmerizing to any octoling's eyes to graze it. He disliked the unusually revealing armor that all adolescent octolings must wear. He preferred real armor, or as he quotes it, "genuine protection."

Mano took a seat next to Vai on the twin sized mattress as she pulled the white satin blanket over her shoulders shyly. "Everything alright now?" Mano murmured, tilting his head towards Vai's ear. The rapid closing of space between the two octolings made Vai blush a slight shade of deep lavender, her piercing yellow eyes drifting away from Mano's general direction. "Yes.." she mumbled, biting her lip slightly at the feeling of his warm aura against her skin. "Alright," he said softly, his gaze burning into the side of Vai's head. Vai gulped, hoping he would move away, or get up and help Krahn with the cooking before he burns the duplex down. "Vai," Mano began, still staring at her. She didn't respond, still a little nervous, and intimidated by Mano's presence alone, which was normal, since Mano was certainly scary, due to the frightening reputation his power gave him. He sighed quietly and paused for a moment, then lifted his hand to Vai's chin and gripped it gently with his index finger and thumb. He ushered her to make eye contact with him, his gaze assertive and serious, like usual. Vai finally gave in and stared him right back in the eyes, snapping her head around, almost with defiance. "If anyone in particular is responsible for your worries, come and inform me of this immediately, alright?" Mano said unblinkingly, his gaze intense and focused, which made Vai a little more nervous. "Y-Yes.." Vai whispered, a slight frown visible on her face. Mano let go of her chin and sighed through his nose, still making eye contact with the other octoling. He got up, refusing to look back at Vai as she glared at him. "We gonna go get breakfast from the cafe or nah? I mean, there's no reviving those eggs, Nora," Krahn said pointedly, his cyan eyes trailing to the charred lumps of unrecognizable food. Nora sighed, disappointment present in her tone. "Well, I dunno. Vai doesn't seem to want to leave her little headspace," Nora said, presumably annoyed. Vai still stared downward, not meeting Nora's gaze. She sighed, her gaze softening slightly while she observed Vai's still shaky state. "I can just make some more, I guess," Nora mumbled, tying her tentalocks into a small ponytail on the back of her head.

"Hey, guys?" Vai called quietly from the living room. "Yo, what's up?" Krahn answered, abandoning the eggs he was preparing, but as anticipated, adding too much seasoning. He claimed to enjoy the extra flavor, but it's a little hard to believe when his facial features contort into one of distaste every time he tastes his own cooking. "I really need to get to my assembly, despite being late. I might as well at least attend," Vai explained, finding her lab equipment on the floor and scattered within the bed sheets. "Aren't you supposed to leave that at the lab? At the workshop, we leave all of our gear there," Krahn asked, eyeing her coat, face mask, and rectangle glasses clenched tightly in her palms. "Yeah, I just forgot," Vai chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. "Shit- Krahn?" "Huh?" "Have you seen my, uh, watch?" Vai asked awkwardly, her voice becoming more uptight as she finished her sentence. "Oh, uh, dunno. Might've rolled under the bed or something," he suggested, not really seeming to care a whole lot. "Wait, watch? Vai, you know we don't have 'time' around here. Nora was nagging me about it yesterday, when I said it was late, but it's always dark, really, so who knows, right?" Krahn rambled, getting lost in his own concentrated train of thought. "Right.." Vai mumbled, sitting on her feet and bending down to scan under her bed for her 'watch'. "Yeah, it isn't necessarily a watch, more like a teleportation device or whatever.." Vai grumbled, sarcasm edging her tone. "A what now? Dear God Vai, I knew you were smart, but woah," Krahn said, absolutely baffled, but impressed. "Uh huh, yeah. Kinda need to find that," she said, sarcasm much more present in her tone than before. "Right," Krahn replied, his gaze drifting away from the other octoling, and onto a small desk with a lamp sitting petitely atop it. A small wristband with an awkward square in the center of it sat in the middle of the gray desk. "Yo, Vai, is that it?" Krahn asked, pointing in the direction of the accessory with his thumb. "Hm?" Vai sat up, dust particles clinging to her clothing. "Oh, thank you so much!" Vai exclaimed, her eyes pinned to it as she bolted towards it. She snatched it and put it around her wrist, her yellow eyes shining. "So uh, what's its name?" Krahn asked casually, attempting to hide his nagging curiosity and amazement at even the mere concept of something as technologically advanced as a teleportation device. "XRS-279," Vai answered, her small smile a very rare sight, due to a mask usually covering half of her face. Her other friends had no idea why she preferred to wear a mask over her mouth, since she had such a nice face, and aesthetic face shape all together. "Wow, nerdy," Krahn scoffed sarcastically, crossing his arms and smirking. "Mhm, of course. I'm the lab nerd, so why wouldn't it be, right?" Vai grinned, playfulness edging her gaze as she eyed Krahn. "Haha, duh," Krahn replied, grinning even bigger than Vai. "Eggs are done!" Nora yelled obnoxiously, making both Krahn and Vai flinch. "Oh, sorry. Too loud?" Nora asked cheekily, setting down two plates on the homemade bar area that was made out of the opening in the wall to connect the kitchen and living room. "We were having a very important nerd exchange, Nora, and we don't appreciate your noise level," Krahn said sarcastically, his cyan eyes twinkling with mischief. "Oops, my bad, your highness," Nora responded, winking at him. Krahn chuckled lightly, standing over his plate as his gaze trailed over his breakfast hungrily. Vai came up next to him, picking up her awkward fork, since they were homemade as well, and delicately penetrating her scrambled eggs with the tines of the fork. She ate her breakfast quietly, while a snort was heard from her left, and she glanced over at Krahn, tearing up his eggs and eating them with his fingers wrapped around them like a rabid octoball eats (Because they don't have any arms. Octoball bias). "For the love of God Krahn, how many times have I told you to use a damn fork!?" Nora asked, clearly irritated with Krahn's eating habits. "They're weird!" Krahn whined, his mouth still full. "Nevermind! Whatever, but you're cleaning up your mess!" Nora commanded, her gaze stern, like it usually is when Krahn refuses to eat the food she makes with the utensils she crafts herself, which not many other octolings do. Krahn grinned like a six year old does when their mother lets them get a handful of candy out of the quarter machine, after begging for a while, that is. Nora huffed, and cleaned up her and Mano's plates. "You're bof alreafy done?" Krahn asked, only speaking with his mouth full to annoy Nora. "Mhm, while you two were chatting it up, Mano and I ate our breakfast quietly and minded our own business," Nora retorted sharply, being sassy on purpose, since she was still quite annoyed with Krahn for his attitude and nerve altogether. "Yeah okay, whatever," Krahn said back, still finishing his eggs. Vai was already done, but observing her and Krahn's exchange was rather amusing, since they're clearly smitten with each other. "Done!" Krahn shouted obnoxiously, snatching his plate off the slim surface serving as a table and setting it in the singular cubicle of a sink. "Lovely," Nora grumbled, glaring at Krahn playfully as he galloped past her and took a seat on her bed. "Hey! Get off my bed!" Nora ordered, pointing at him and coming towards him. "Make me!" he threatened, stretching himself out on her sheets and flashing her a rather provocative look, but it wasn't serious, of course. Or at least not that serious. "Bet," Nora whispered, her gaze penetrating his. "Shit.." Krahn whispered, all of the color draining from his flesh. Nora lept at him with incredible speed, her agility to blame for how unusually aerodynamic she was. She flew at Krahn and bowled him over, tussling with him on the bed until they nearly rolled off. "Morons," Mano mumbled, standing next to Vai as he stared with her at the wrestling octolings. "Goofballs," Vai joked, smiling and putting on her lab equipment. "You still would like to attend the assembly, yes?" Mano asked, averting his crimson gaze to Vai's amused yellow one. "Mhm," Vai murmured, still observing the pair of tussling octarians before them. "I can take you, and we can walk there, if you'd like, Vai," Mano offered, finally making eye contact with Vai once more. "Sure," Vai answered, smiling slightly under her mask, and following Mano out the front door.


	4. Chapter Three - Assembly

The chill of the outside pierced Vai's flesh as she shivered slightly, Mano's warm presence not doing much in adding to her own warmth. Mano kept close to Vai as they both walked the cobbled ground, the ominous purple glow that constantly served as the 'sky' still as mystifyingly beautiful as always, whilst faux stars twinkled in it like little white speckles of acrylic paint on a violet canvas. They walked down to the familiar automatic doors that only students may enter, and was connected to a long corridor, as well as the stone walls surrounding the area that contains the duplexes. As they reached the remaining pair of doors, Mano paused in front of them. "You're sure no one in particular is responsible for your worries?" Mano pressed, simply worried for the other octoling's safety, mostly because he's completely capable of scaring any octoling into a quivering puddle of ink. "Yes, Mano, I'm absolutely positive," Vai huffed, shooting Mano an irritated look. There was another moment of awkward silence, which Mano seemed to be the master of. "Of course," Mano breathed, slightly annoyed, but quickly stifling it. He set his own standards at a strange place, they were achievable by him, yes, but they still appeared a bit bizarre. He didn't allow himself to show any emotions, for example, if he perceived something as amusing, he wouldn't laugh like others would. The most he would do is smirk slightly, but he constantly kept on his calm and sober facade.

Vai sighed as the cold air made her shiver aggressively, clutching her arms with her hands in a feeble attempt to warm herself. Mano inched closer to her, their shoulders nearly touching. His presence was more reassuring when he was close physically, since he was so warm, obviously, but Vai was still unsure of her feelings. Naturally, any octoling that felt an attraction towards male octolings would become a little flustered when placed in the particular scenarios Vai has been in with Mano, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she likes him like that. The train scheduled to appear at their location screeched to a halt in front of the pair, the stench of industrialization stinging their noses. Vai sighed, stepping onto the train reluctantly, glancing back at Mano. To her surprise, he followed close behind her. Mano made eye contact with her for a heartbeat, then re-averted his gaze to be focused directly in front of him. Vai turned her head back to the front, peering around for an empty seat. The train wasn't particularly crowded, due to the fact that it was the middle of class for many students, and for other octarians hard at work. Vai sat in the corner again, with Mano to her left, and sitting a little closer to her than she preferred, but she didn't say anything, since it didn't really bother her as much as she anticipated it would.

After what seemed like eons, the train eventually squealed to a stop at the train station closest to the technology student building auditorium, which was where the assembly for the young octarian scientists was being held. Vai's eyes slid up the intimidatingly large establishment, stifling her fear, her realization of her lateness and potential failure infiltrating her raging mind. Mano slowly walked up next to her, his deep crimson eyes scanning the enormous building, and flicking to Vai's astonished yellow gaze. He sighed quietly, looking back towards the building. A faint voice boomed from the auditorium before them, echoing in their ears. "Well, I suppose I might as well attend the meeting, despite my lateness.." Vai murmured, her gaze trailing down to her black boots. Mano hummed in agreement, still staring at the building. "Would you like me to be there?" Mano asked quietly, an almost unnoticeable hint of shyness in his deep voice. Vai flinched slightly, still taken aback by his rather soft approach at conversation. There was an uncomfortable amount of silence between the two, since Vai stood frozen with shock, and Mano looked expectantly at Vai. "I-" "Just to support you. Not like an affectionate thing or something.." Mano mumbled, cutting off Vai mid-sentence. There was another slight pause, and Mano glanced to the side, almost appearing to be nervous, which was certainly unusual for the octoling. Vai smiled underneath her mask slightly, her gaze softening. "I was going to say," Vai began, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. "That I would like that very much," she murmured, rubbing his clavicle with her thumb slightly, in an effort to calm him and help him feel comfortable. He made eye contact with her, the nervousness in his red gaze dissipating, and a slight smile making its way onto his lightly tanned face. "But can you remove the mask, Vai? I want to be able to see your smile," he asked softly, his small smile widening as their eyes remained connected. Her face flustered slightly, his gentle affirmations making her want to melt in her skin, absolutely stunned, but still enjoying the positive attention. "I.. uhm. S-sure Mano.." she mumbled, her smile starting to spread further. Her hand slipped from his shoulder to her side, while his hands slowly rose up to the strings of the mask wrapped around her ears. He stepped in front of her so their faces were perpendicular, and their eyes bored into each other, the tension sparking violently in the air. His slim fingers slid underneath the bands, tugging on them gently and pulling them up and over her ears, releasing the mask's grip from Vai's slightly flustered face.

It was quite similar to a dust mask, very thick and occasionally hard to breathe in, used for repelling toxic chemicals, if any octarian working in the lab happened to come in contact with one. They're also for the elite scientists that are responsible for sanitization of adult octolings after adolescence. The scientists wait until they're 18, so the injection for being sanitized doesn't give them a mutation of some sort, due to the fact that they haven't fully developed yet.

The mask slowly slipped off her face, his fingers intertwined with the straps of it, and slowly pulling it down. Mano froze, taken aback by the pure beauty posed before him. Vai's lightly tanned flesh was gently illuminated by the harsh white lights of the auditorium, but they were distant enough to where they weren't blinding. She had a soft jawline and a petite nose, her sleek, piercing yellow eyes sparkling against the luminous violet sky. Mano was starstruck, a marble sculpture in an art museum. He felt himself instinctively close the space between them, their gazes still connected. His eyelids fell slightly, his fingertips gently brushing her jawline, the mask falling away from his grip.

"M-Mano-" Vai whimpered, her eyes shutting tightly as their bodies were mere centimeters apart. "T-there was something in your tentalocks.." he mumbled, stroking them gently and pretending to pick something out of them. He quickly backed away, his eyes darting off to the side. An awkward silence fell upon them, as no other words were exchanged for the moment when Mano almost exposed his soft side to someone. "You need to attend your assembly, Vai. It is of utmost importance, and I offer you my most sincere apologies for.. uhm.. distracting you of your duties as an octarian scientist.." he mumbled, staring off to the side and rubbing his forearm nervously. "It's alright, really. Don't worry," Vai replied, her smile returning. "Ah, alright," he replied, his serious demeanor returning, and his usual behavior setting back in place. Her smile subsided, her usual calm and almost empty mood returning, a little sad about Mano's retreat to his typical cold habit.

They walked to the large doors that served as the main external entrance to the auditorium. There were two other pairs of doors on the outside of it, but most octarians, primarily students and professors, entered through the doors that were inside the building attached to it. Two tall octolings that appeared to be elite scientists were standing guard at the enormous doors. "Name?" One of them asked, the deep voice making Vai flinch slightly, while Mano held eye contact with the taller one, his arms crossed and body language tenacious. "V-Vai Venci, amateur scientist, t-technology field," Vai stammered, adjusting the collar of the glossy leather under her steel chestplate. There was a mildly lengthy pause, as the taller of the two octolings, barely standing taller than Mano, was holding a clipboard and appeared to be scanning it, but Vai couldn't really tell, due to the octoshades covering their eyes. "Yes, but who's your little friend?" Mano glanced up at the tall octoling, almost appearing to be sizing her up. "Mano Kijanoka." He said confidently, stepping forward and letting his arms drape by his sides, standing closer to Vai. Both Vai and Mano were able to see the octoling's facial features droop with dread, the color draining from her flesh. The other octoling standing at the door pressed a button that allowed the doors to open. "Please proceed, young ones," she said nervously, quickly standing by and allowing them entrance. "Thank you very much, Samoya," Mano said to the shorter octoling, smirking as she flinched slightly. "Of course.." she mumbled, kicking up gravel on the concrete floor.

The couple made their way down the corridor, where they had to split up, so Mano could find the stands, and Vai could find the Hivemind. The Hivemind is the leader of the science district throughout the entire octarian education establishment, at the same level as the Sheik, the Prime, and the Gunner. The Sheik is responsible for armor and fashion, the Prime is in charge of weaponry, and the Gunner is the commander of the octarian army. All four of these leaders that are directing the districts are under Octavio's strict order.

After the battle with Agent 4, he has been incredibly weak, but still refuses to give up his position as Minister of the Deepsea Metro. He escaped from his snowglobe again, and was banished underground, instead of kept captive for a third time. He's having a hard time recovering from the battle, and the four district leaders have done their best to manage what they can, but Octavio has too many octarians working for him for anyone to refuse his rules, particularly that he holds the most power amongst anything, whether it be the education establishment or not. It is all under his control.

They slowly walked though yet again, another corridor, two pairs of doors perpendicular to one another at the beginning of the darkened tunnel, both pairs leading to a seating area within the auditorium. They both stopped, their thoughts slowly flowing through their minds. "I suppose we must go our separate ways, for now.." Mano mumbled, his eyes sliding around the dimly lit corridor. "Of course," Vai replied, her stiff posture making her appear extremely nervous, slightly amusing to Mano, who stood close to her, his breathing steady and calm compared to Vai's irregular breathing pattern, due to her anxious behavior and thought processes. "Go find the Hivemind, and see if you can get credit for at least attending the ceremony, alright?" Mano ordered gently, turning his head to face her. Vai turned her own head to face Mano, and smiled slightly, slipping her mask back over her face. "Yeah, thanks Mano," Vai said back, her eyes twinkling with gratitude.

Mano walked through the door on the right, attempting to find a seat in the stands. Vai sighed and made her way through the door on the left, continuously going down until she reached a central box where the Hivemind sat and spoke, if he wasn't out in the center of the outdoor auditorium. There was no roof on it, so it opened up to the violet sky above. Vai walked up to the heavyset metal door and knocked quietly, since there was no noise heard from any speakers, or from the room itself. It suddenly opened, a tall and lanky octoling posed before him, his long tentacles frayed about in all directions on his head, his silver shades gleaming in the harsh white lights of the auditorium. "Vai! Super glad you could make it," he began, grabbing her by the arm and ushering her inside. Surprisingly, the Hivemind was pretty upbeat and exciting compared to his colleagues, kinda like the Krahn of their friend group. "So! I talked to the DJ, and he approved something mega important for you that I'd love to discuss with you!" He exclaimed happily, excitement present in his tone and wriggly behavior. "Oh, really?" Vai asked, curiosity in her voice, but not as much enthusiasm as the Hivemind. "You're getting a promotion to be my deputy!" He squealed, a huge smile on his face. Vai froze, every drop of emotion ebbing from her body. "W-what?" She squeaked, stunned. "I know, crazy right?! DJ came up with it out of nowhere, saying stuff like 'keeping those lethargic adolescents in order' or whatever. He's worried you'll all rebel, since you're all young and strong, and honestly, you're completely capable," he rambled, his excitement getting the better of him, since Vai was his favorite student, to say the least. "Please, Hivemind, I'm more than unfit for this job, I can't handle that kind of stress right now!" Vai went on, her anxiety levels starting to rise with every increasing heartbeat. "Just call me Loma, Vai. It's alright if you feel afraid right now, but trust me, you're going to be great, okay? Come back tomorrow, and you can personally present your project to me, yeah?" He offered, smiling at her. She smiled back crookedly, grateful for his friendliness. "Sure," she answered, waving to him as she exited the room. "Have a lovely day, Vai!" He called after her, waving back at her. She shut the door, letting it slip into place as quietly as possible. She glanced around, sighing and deciding to find Mano, wherever he could be. She spotted a small, discolored patch of flooring in the corner, and became a little curious as to why it appeared to be so strange. She dusted it off, and it turned out to be a very small grated trapdoor. It appeared to be locked somehow, but not with octarian technology, by her knowledge. "My invention.." she thought to herself. "I can teleport myself inside!" She got excited, and activated it. She turned the knob forward, aiming for whatever the hell could be on the inside of the wall, but it looked like a metal ladder. She pressed north on her screen reluctantly, and pressed the button to execute the command. She once again, similar to yesterday, warped into another being, and then back into herself quickly. Immediately, she felt herself falling into nothingness at a rapid rate, her body catapulting down the tunnel. She hit the ground with a hard thud, pain gripping her entire body, and landing in a puddle of what felt like enemy ink, but it wasn't that of an inkling. It was certainly from an octoling.

There was very little light down here, hardly illuminating the ink dripping from her left forearm, which she landed on pretty hard, along with her left shoulder. She wasn't bleeding, but she was certainly bruised. The ink trickling off her arm not being her own. It was an unusual shade of purple, being more of a deep violet, which was certainly strange, since the only colors you ever saw on an octoling were lavender, pale orange, and bright pink, with that particular shade of pink being the most popular. She gulped and proceeded down the wide brick corridor, observing the dim flickering lanterns hanging from the walls tenaciously on her way down. At the end of the corridor, she saw a large silhouette of what appeared to be a throne of some sort, put together with molten steel, sticks, stone, and almost any material accessible in this dump. There was an octoling sitting in it, its fingers intertwined and elbows resting on the arms of the chair, its hands brought up to its chin as it stared at Vai's nervous approach. It wore a large hat that appeared to be that of the inkling legend, called a 'witch'. It seemed to be male, but the marks under its eyes made it hard to tell. It wore a dusty white sweater, and beat up white combat boots. Its crimson eyes bored into Vai's for a few more moments, until it chuckled. Its deep voice signified it was certainly a male, his quiet laugh chilling Vai through her flesh. "W-who the hell are you?" Vai stammered, her body in a defensive position in case this stranger attempted to try anything funny on her. He smiled at her softly, the light in his eyes gone, his smirk void of any true emotion. "Iso Dunar."


	5. Chapter Four - King

Mano's eyes desperately scanned the auditorium, confused by the lack of noise and not being able to see Vai. He took a seat closer to the exit doors, just in case Vai wanted to find him, or just see him in the stands relatively easily, but Vai was nowhere in sight, and he barely recalls having heard a loud thud. He twiddled his thumbs nervously, becoming frustrated with himself for not following her to the Hivemind. A large jellyfish wearing a varsity jacket sat next to him, his chin resting on his hands. "Excuse me," Mano said, turning his head towards the jock. He swung his head around to face the much smaller octoling, looking at him expectantly. "Have you seen a female octoling with yellow eyes and tentacurls, most likely wearing a mask?" He asked, his hands folded neatly in his lap. The large creature stared at him for a while longer. "No," he answered slowly, turning his head back around to face the front. Mano sighed through his nose quietly. "Thank you," he said, standing up and brushing off his legs. "Good luck finding girl," the jelly said, turning back to Mano once again. Mano smiled at him, crossing his arms as he made his way out of the stands. "Thank you."

He exited the stands, and walked back into the corridor where he last saw Vai, and his eyes scanned everywhere that he possibly could. His frustration level increased when there was no sign of Vai anywhere in his peripheral, quickly grabbing the handle of the parallel door and swinging it open violently, stomping down to where the Hivemind dwelled. He knocked harshly on the metal door, causing the walls to rattle. An octoling with extremely pale skin and gray eyes hidden behind the infamous Hivemind antenna, frantically opened the door, only to see a perturbed Mano towering over him, the peachy tentacles atop his head frayed about over the shades. "Where the hell is Vai, you creepy little scoundrel?" Mano growled, his impatience levels allowing his blood to boil. "She left my office a few minutes ago," he began carefully, straightening his back and standing up taller to face Mano. "I would appreciate it if you spoke to me in a calm and professional way, Mr. Noka," he mumbled, glaring at Mano through his shades. "Shut up Loma! I _know_ you did something to her!" He shouted, his crimson eyes blazing. "I did nothing to my student. I understand that I am not the minster of your district, but you will still treat me with respect, and you shall refer to me as the Hivemind, which is the title I've worked hard to earn, and deserve. I expect that you'll acknowledge that, just like every other student has. Are we clear?" Loma hissed, not pleased with Mano's egotistical behavior. Mano eased his facial muscles and simply nodded, still glaring daggers at Loma. "Please exit my office, Mr. Noka, and I wish you the best of luck in finding Vai," he concluded, bowing to Mano slightly as a sign of respect. Mano stayed silent, and simply walked out of the room, shutting the cumbersome door behind him. He slammed his back into the stone brick wall that housed Loma's office, and threw his head back, his hands clasping his face as he slid down the wall and curled up at the bottom. He held his head in his hands, contemplating continuing to search for Vai, shame burning through his mind at his lack of respect for authority figures. "So this is where emotions get you in the _real _world.." he mumbled, his voice trembling. He went silent for a moment, rethinking his sentence. His mind immediately cleared, all feeling draining from his body as quickly as it had occurred. "Tch.." he growled, glaring around as the tears that dared to well in his serious gaze quickly dissolved. He quickly stood up, straightening his back, and standing erect and tall, like his usual posture. He stayed silent as he made his way out of the tunnel underneath the bleachers, his mind blank, a ringing noise echoing in his head and blocking out the ever so faint sound of voices being carried up from the corner, whilst he made his way back to the duplexes to inform Krahn and Nora.

_ …_

"W-what?" Vai squeaked, slightly backing away from the intimidating octoling before her out of fear. He chuckled deeply, amused by her reaction at his presence alone. "So I assume you've heard of me before, judging by your adorable response," he grinned sheepishly, his sharp teeth glimmering against the dim lights lining the wide corridor. "The Octarian Menace, yes?" He queried, narrowing his eyes at her while his smile widened, but no true eagerness or curiosity was there. It was as if he was a porcelain doll, an expression painted onto his face, but it of course, had no value. He felt nothing. "C-correct, we learned about you when we were much younger.." Vai trailed off, starting to step away from him. "Ah," he hummed, his smile faltering slightly as he straightened his back and stood up from his strange throne-like chair, looking down on Vai in a condescending manner. "I-Iso Dunar, The Lord Of Betrayal, The Untrusted.." Vai stammered, spitting out random names that other young octolings said about the immensely powerful warrior, misjudged by all, but for good reason. Vai stared up at him, absolutely horrified that the most popular octarian to exist was towering over her. "The Deception Savant, right?" He mentioned, a slight smirk creeping onto his face. Vai's pupils shrank, her lower lip quivering at the sight of the man in every scary story to exist in her fryhood. "Maybe you need a recap, yes? Not _everyone _has heard _my _side, and you're a fair young octoling, right Vai?" He asked, almost appearing to have puppy eyes, but Vai was mortified at the fact that he knew her name. He let out a little laugh, smirking and staring into Vai's shaky yellow gaze. "Well," he leaned down to where Vai cowered, starting to shake from the fear. "Allow me to begin where it ended," he started, leaning back to stand up. His eyes flashed, a dim red light emitting from them. Vai was confused and afraid, her eyes observing her surroundings as quickly as her panicked mind would allow. He looked at her for another moment, and blinked slowly, sighing quietly. "Relax, I can't hurt you down here, since you're not allowed to be down here anyways, and I don't want the octarians above to know I'm not dead," he grinned, turning around and taking an elegant seat on his dark throne, his hands folding and allowing his chin to rest on them once more, his legs crossed. "Not long before you were born, I believe, since you appear to be 16 years old, I escaped from the Deepsea Metro, just like one of your peers desires deeply, despite his constant facade of optimism and effervescence," his voice quieted during the last fragment of his statement, startling Vai slightly as her mind worked to figure out his rather cryptic remark. "Krahn.." she murmured, lifting her gaze to meet Iso's glowing crimson one. Iso's lips pressed together for a moment, exhaling through his nose briefly, staring into Vai's shaken yellow eyes for a few moments. Vai stared back, unsure of what to do or how to respond, captivated by his sparkling gaze. Iso grunted, shaking his head and blinking away his vision. "Sorry.." Vai mumbled, nervously rubbing her upper arm. He gave her his signature slight grin, his half lidded eyes sparkling in the dark. He backed away and raised his arms, his fingers spread apart, yet strangely relaxed.

While Vai's eyes scanned the perimeter, she noticed the dark ink puddles scattered all around the unusual room begin to rise, as if falling slowly in reverse. "W-what the hell.." Vai sputtered, scared out of her mind and on the brink of hyperventilation. Iso didn't respond to her panicked rambling.

"Allow us to travel further into the past, yes? And why I escaped this hellish place," Iso said, a menacing look on his face when he described his former home. The deep violet ink rose up next to his fingers, creating little shapes quite similar to infant octolings. "This is me," he started, eyeing the blob of ink that was further away from the other blobs. "I was cast out just because of how I looked," he went on, the red glow emitting from his eyes lighting up, seemingly with malice or anger. "How you looked?" Vai echoed, confused by this statement, considering the fact that he seemed quite normal to her, in the dark at least. "My eyes, darling," Iso replied, staring into her piercing gaze as she scanned his face. "The mask?" She guessed, assuming that was the issue. "Yes, the eye mask. Only females have points on the ends of their eye mask. Mine dragged down to my chin, and I had no idea why," he explained, his gaze dropping to the blobs of ink in between him and Vai. They seemed to melt, and his fingers relaxed slightly, then stiffened back up, almost in a claw-like maneuver, to create new shapes with the ink. This time, he recreated himself and the group, but Iso appeared to be on his knees in front of the group, while the other young octopi circled him, laughing at him for being a 'man-girl'. "Shortly after, though," Iso continued, "I proved to them that they were weak little bags of slime, that had no right to speak to someone as strong as me in such a manner as they had," Iso growled, his right hand balling up into a fist, and the other octopi exploding and splattering on the stone ground below, leaving Iso alone in the center. There was a moment of silence, and Iso relaxed his tightened fist, spreading out his fingers once again to bring up another blob of ink from the floor. This time, it looked quite similar to a splat roller, but much heavier and more complex. "But, eventually.." The miniature Iso crawled pathetically to the roller, his small hands gripping the handle and barely managing to lift it off the ground, but eventually lifting it over his shoulder. "I found where my power lies," he said, an almost evil looking smirk spreading across his face. "I trained for days upon weeks upon months upon years with this weapon, and rumor had it, this weapon originated from the surface," he added, his smirk growing wider. "Hours? Days? Months?" Vai queried, confused by the strange words he used. "Right.. you don't have 'time'.. at least, judged by the sun, that is.." he mumbled. _"The sun?" _Vai asked herself, even more confused, but deciding not to ask anymore pesky questions. "Question is, _where _did my power lay, exactly?" He asked, obviously a rhetorical question, so Vai stayed silent. The ink fell, and then rose again to create a large splat roller. It was certainly complex, with much larger indentions in the roller, and the gears being much larger as well, and certainly much heavier with it. With its strange design, Vai was brought to even more concern. She had no idea what this was. Lastly, the roller appeared to have what seemed to be a clothespin clipped onto it, giving it an even more quirky look. "The Kensa Dynamo Roller," he said, grinning maniacally. "The Ken-sa what now?" Vai responded, her fear mostly gone and replaced with confusion and curiosity. "Dynamo Roller," he replied calmly, his smile faltering slightly into a simple small smirk. Vai gave him a look, and he sighed in annoyance, his smile faltering completely. "The most powerful roller out of every roller that has ever been manufactured. The heaviest and the strongest, but also the slowest," he explained, almost sounding like Krahn for a second, making Vai long for Nora and her other friends. Out of the blue, a worrying thought suddenly crossed her mind. _"What if Mano is looking for me?" _Vai twiddled her thumbs as the ink before her melted onto the floor, Iso starting to explain another part of his story. He harnessed no ink, though, and allowed his arms to drape by his sides. "I hated the oppression I received for how I looked, and the fact that my parents were viewed as mongrels for voicing their opinion on not being proud of the system octarians have created, and they were killed off for it," his voice fell away, almost sounding sad, but almost immediately, his mood changed back to serious and focused.

"Tch.." he grumbled, shaking his head, the glow in his eyes faltering, and his fingers relaxing. _"He acts a lot like Mano," _Vai thought to herself, the thought of her close friend making her smile slightly, despite the situation she was in. "The society that everyone around me contributed to destroyed me from the inside out, making me feel like a worthless chum, and for no good reason," he snarled, clenching his fists, and relaxing afterwards, exhaling slowly. "So," he began, "I overthrew _everyone_." He said simply, his menacing smile returning. Vai's eyes widened, the vague yet threatening claim scaring her. "H-how..?" Vai asked carefully, her fear starting to return to her head. He chuckled, allowing the moments of silence to paralyze Vai as possibility after possibility crossed her mind, every single one being about how powerful Iso could possibly be, and _alone _at that. "My dynamo, of course. Its kit, its strength, and general raw power, was everything that I alone could harness. See, those other kids were belittling me, of course, you know, but now, after I trained with my precious weapon, I had the confidence to talk back," he went on, getting indulged in his own story. "So they challenged me to a 4v1," Vai grimaced, not wanting to picture something so cruel and unfair. "The team with the most kills was considered the winner," Iso added, starting to smirk a little bit at his own words, which worried Vai slightly. "We went to a small clearing away from other adults, and we fought it out, but it certainly didn't last long," he said, Vai's heart rate beginning to quicken. "I crushed every single one." He said plainly, malevolence lining his gaze. "Every single one?" She repeated, almost refusing to believe it was possible. "Of course," he answered, a blank expression plastered on his face. "After more people found out about the incident, I became more popular, and more people didn't believe an outcast like me actually had _power_. That was considered ridiculous. So more people came along and lost. Victory after victory after victory for me, whilst the inferior ones cowered underneath me, and gave me the perfect opportunity to overthrow the disgusting hierarchy of worth being determined by looks or popularity," he sneered, crossing his arms and glancing off to the side smugly. "Wow.." Vai murmured, astonished by his rather inspiring message, despite the reputation he built up for himself. There were a few moments of silence shared between them, which once again, provoked the thought of a certain octoling she was worried about at that moment. "So," he started once more, "I became the king," he said, his voice laced with pride. "But the Metro has never been a monarchy," Vai started, crossing her arms while her voice fell away slightly, a bit unsure of his claim. "Yes, of course, it never officially was a monarchy, my dear." Iso answered, almost with a hint of menace. "I was their lord, the all powerful one, the one that no octarian could speak to without caution," he told her, his voice sounding almost evil. "But, I then remembered the only reason why I wanted to gain power in the first place," he continued. "To make sure no one gets in my way, so I can execute my escape flawlessly, and I did exactly that. I left, and along with that, I left the Deepsea Metro's entire societal structure in smithereens, absolutely destroyed by my raw power," he declared, almost as if his story was scripted. "And of course, I escaped, but had nowhere to go, and that's when I found a little valley quite close to the mountain I escaped from, where I found quite a few cute things there. I met two inklings with no weapon, who appeared to be guarding an outpost of some sort. They didn't like me at first, since they thought I was hostile, but it's quite alright. We eventually got along. If you call getting along getting shooed away and not killed," he said sheepishly, grinning at Vai in an almost childlike manner. "I still lingered, though, and that's where I met my wife, at the DJ Octavio boss fight, and we had two beautiful children after getting married, a few years after entering a relationship. She's a loaded splattershot, that one.." he trailed off, seemingly getting lost in the thoughts of his wife on the surface, waiting for him. "Your wife is Agent 4?!" Vai asked, shock freezing her worried mind as she stared at the taller octoling before her. "Why yes, how'd you know?" He asked, smiling slightly as more thoughts of the inkling crossed his mind. "Krahn's stupid little books he reads. He talks about her all the time!" Vai answered. "I feel honored," Iso laughed, re-adjusting his unusually large hat. "But the only reason why I came back here.." Iso started, his tone darkening. "Was to get my eldest son back." "What? Why?" Vai queried, slightly worried that it would seem like an obvious or unnecessary question. "They took him from me. Octotroopers stole my son. I _know _it was them. They left a note on my counter, written in octarian. I woke up to a strange noise, almost like an ambient motor, and found my eldest son gone." His red gaze dropped, refusing to display any emotions. "What did the note say?" Vai pressed, curiosity seizing her mind and all regard for common sense and respect of privacy. "I remember it like it was yesterday.." he murmured, his eyes scanning the floor. _"I have your eldest, Iso Dunar. I shall spare your wife and youngest. If you wish to see your son again, you must reclaim your throne."_ He spoke with an octarian accent, and the words sent chills down Vai's spine. Silence rained, before Vai finally decided to speak up again. "Do you remember his name?"

At the sound of this highly anticipated question, Iso's gaze shot up to meet Vai's, its intensity frightening her for a moment. He sighed quietly, and shook his head gently. "I'm afraid not.. I've been trying so hard to remember what he was like, that I completely forgot who he was.." Iso murmured, sadness edging his tone, which Vai certainly wasn't used to hearing. "That's aside from the point, anyways. Talk to your friend about all he knows about inkling culture, and bring him to me so we may talk. I will help you get out of this little area, since I know a way," Iso mentioned, changing the subject. "If you know a way out, why don't you just get out?" Vai asked, tipping her head. "I said earlier, I don't want everyone else to know I'm alive, so I can eventually escape whenever I see fit." There were some more moments of silence, before a voice was heard in the midst of the quiet. "Oh, and Vai.." Iso started again, his gaze dragging back up to hers. "Yes?" Vai responded, turning around to walk back to where she fell. "I will always search for my son."


	6. Chapter Five - Found

"WHAT?" Nora yelled, absolutely furious. Krahn stood close next to her, holding her hand and gripping it tightly, Mano standing before the two of them and maintaining eye contact with the mortified octoling before him. Mano sighed, crossing his arms in front of them, a small frown painted on his face as his half lidded eyes stayed locked to Nora's anxious violet ones. "Didn't she visit the Hivemind's office?" Krahn asked, his voice barely retaining its cool and casual tone. "She never came out," Mano answered grimly, his gaze dragging away from Nora's out of guilt. "Why didn't you FOLLOW HER? SHE COULD BE HURT!" Nora screeched, terrified and enraged at the same time. "I couldn't find her! There was nowhere else for her to go!" Mano yelled back, anger beginning to boil under his skin, along with frustration with his own ignorance and obliviousness. "Nora, please, Mano's right, I've been to his office before! Surely the Sheik's office isn't much different, right?" Krahn said, a twinge of worry edging his tone. "Shut UP Krahn! You both KNOW Vai isn't fit to be wandering around alone, ESPECIALLY IF SHE'S LOST!" Nora screamed, tears brimming in her eyes. The two boys stayed silent, as Nora flung Krahn's hand from her own in a fit of frustration. There was silence, yet tension hung heavy in the air. No one said a word, as Nora desperately attempted to regain control of her labored breathing and sudden anxiety levels.

The violet door to the girls duplex swung open, making everyone's heads snap towards the doorway. The silhouette of an octoling stood there, almost menacingly, its stature intimidating and stiff. "Vai!" Nora cried, rushing up to it and squeezing it tightly. "Nora, ching please, let me walk," a familiar voice said nervously, as Krahn's face lit up and Mano's facial muscles relaxed. "Sorry, sorry!" Nora laughed, backing up and allowing Vai to walk in the doorway. For the first time in days, Vai wasn't wearing her lab gear. Most of it, at least. She still wore her mask. She finally walked in and gazed around, giving Mano a wave as her eyes landed on his. Mano gave her a solemn nod, not showing any emotions like relief or excitement. She walked up to Krahn whilst Nora clung onto her arm, harassing her with question after question. "Krahn," Vai said, seriousness thick in her voice. "Come with me." Krahn stared at her, dumbfounded and confused. "What?" Krahn asked, raising an eyebrow at Vai, who stood tall before him. "Come," she repeated, blinking slowly. "Um, okay," Krahn replied, cocking his head slightly as he crossed his arms. Vai turned without another word, walking back to the doorway, which was still open. "Where do you two think you're going?" Nora exclaimed, glaring in the direction of the two octolings. "Out," Vai answered, acting quite unusual. "Can I get a little more than that please?" She asked, a commanding tone lining her voice. "Nope, out," Vai responded simply, still making her way out of the duplex past the open metal door. Vai exited the building, and Krahn flashed Nora a wave and a nervous smile, following her close behind. They walked out of the area housing the duplexes, their boots clicking on the stone floor as they made their way down the corridor. They eventually reached a train screeching to a stop in front of them, its overpowering stench making them clamp their eyes shut to block out the spray of gravel being shot towards them. They boarded it quickly, Vai obviously appearing to be in a hurry, unbeknownst to Krahn as he trailed behind her. They sat close together, as the train was rather crowded, since many octarians were ending their 2nd quarter 8 hour shifts. Strangely enough, there is a sense of time down there, but it was only determined with stopwatches, timers, and work shifts. There are three quarters, each of which pertain to a period that an octarian may work. The most popular is the 2nd quarter shift, where you wake up at a relatively "early" time and sleep at a decent time as well. For the 1st quarter, you must sleep quite "early", since you attend work "early". Typically most octolings are asleep for this shift, so it's picked the least. The 3rd quarter begins after the 2nd quarter, and is quite awkward when it comes to a sleep schedule, but it doesn't seem to bother anyone who picks it.

"So, Vai," Krahn began, his gaze trailing over to Vai's blank expression. "What are we doing? And where are we going?" He asked, his hands folded in his lap. He sounded confused, but not afraid. Fear was an emotion that was rarely detectable in his voice, since he was constantly optimistic, which was quite an unusual concept to the octolings around him, but he didn't seem to mind too much. He said it was "the music" that gave him hope, and he would always walk around humming the same song, and it was quite obnoxious. He never sang or hummed it in public, though, which was weird, but no one seemed to care, since it was annoying. Anytime he was asked about the song, he would ramble on forever about the band being "off the hook", and how it's saved him from the darkness of the underground, like how "calamari inkantation" has saved many other octolings, including Marina Ida. Vai and the others knew who she was, the octoling that escaped from the underground after being the most intelligent octarian to have ever been born there.

"I'm bringing you with me to speak to someone," Vai answered plainly, her gaze still fixated on the wall in front of her. Krahn didn't respond, still confused by the lack of clarity in Vai's words. "Oookay-" Krahn replied, his eyes scanning the ceiling of the train. Not very long afterwards, the train screamed to a halt to another train station, but even more strangely to Krahn, in front of the Technology District's auditorium. Krahn's face twisted into one of consternation, almost bewildered by how unusual Vai's behavior was. "Are we talking to Loma?" Krahn asked, tapping his index fingers together, almost in a nervous manner. "No," Vai answered plainly, hopping down each of the steps that lead to the cobbled ground. "Alright.." Krahn said slowly, trailing behind Vai closely, while observing his surroundings, almost paranoid something would've been altered. Unsurprisingly to him, everything was fine. He was just slightly worried, and that was all. Vai entered the auditorium, with the unusual sighting of no guards present at the doors. "Should we be going in here?" Krahn asked quietly, fiddling with his fingers nervously. "It'll be fine. I'm deputy of the Technology District. It'll be fine," Vai said calmly, maintaining her steady walking pace into the long corridor that had two parallel doors on the walls located very close to the entrance. Vai quickly opened the door on the left, swinging it open and allowing it to swing in a large enough swoop to allow Krahn to slip through the gap. It slammed shut behind them, and Vai made her way down the familiar hallway towards where Loma's office was. "You're sure we're not talking to Loma?" Krahn repeated, mostly trying to assure himself that the situation wasn't as sketchy as it appeared. "Of course, his office isn't in the corner," Vai replied casually, kneeling next to the weird patch of gray in the corner. When he approached it, it seemed to warp into a grate, although certainly well hidden from the populace. "Woah.." he murmured, astonished at the sight of it. Vai didn't say anything, except she quickly slid behind Krahn and wrapped her arms around his chest, pulling him towards her tightly. "Woah woah woah! Hey Vai, it's totally cool if you're into me, but don't you think this is a little fast?" Krahn said shakily, taken aback by the strange behavior demonstrated by his octarian friend. "Shut up," Vai commanded, tapping her watch-like device and powering it on. "Yo, Vai, that's a little offensive, dontcha think?" Krahn sputtered, becoming increasingly more unnerved. Out of nowhere, a bright blue box with an X in the middle of it was projected in front of the pair, making Krahn flinch. "Hold on, go into octopus form for only a second, then back to octoling form after a second. Better hope we land on the ladder," Vai added, squeezing Krahn even tighter. "W-what?!" Krahn yelped, his eyes widening as he heard a click, and felt his being warp into something it never has before, whilst he slipped into his octopus out of instinct, and felt bars below his tentacles, and flinched into his octoling form, gripping onto the metal poles for dear life. Vai almost plummeted past him, until he quickly grabbed her arm as she nearly toppled to the ground in a flurry of flailing arms. Krahn grunted, slightly surprised by how heavy Vai was. "All that weight must be your b-brain, h-huh?" Krahn joked, sweat beading down his forehead out of nervousness and physical strain. "Drop me," Vai ordered, looking back up at Krahn with a blank expression. "What?" Krahn said, bewildered. "Drop me," Vai repeated, starting to wriggle around in his grasp slightly. "You don't know how far down it is, Vai! I'm not gonna let you fall!" Krahn yelled, gritting his teeth as his arm started to burn from the excess strain. "Augh-!" Krahn grunted, Vai's wrist slipping out of his grip, as he watched in horror while she dropped to the ground. He heard a loud clop of what seemed to be her boots, but panicked when he heard the loud and alarming sound. "Vai!" Krahn screeched, jumping down from where he clung to the ladder, and landing on more cobbled flooring with a loud thud. He felt something splash beneath his left boot, and lifted it up to inspect what it was, only the worst thoughts coming to mind. "Eugh!" Krahn yelled, panicked and disgusted at the sight of dark ink on his boot. "What in the-" Krahn murmured, shaking his boot and flinging the ink off of the metal sole. "Oh, so you really did bring him along, hmm," a deep voice said further along, presumably talking to Vai. "Yes, I did. Besides, I am quite interested in what the surface has to offer." Krahn's heart dropped as his suspicions were confirmed. "He is quite a noisy one, isn't he?" the voice chuckled, almost in a mocking way. Krahn then sped towards the direction of the voice, blindly charging towards the potential enemy, despite being unarmed. "Vai! I'm gonna come find you, okay? It'll be alright! You don't need Mano, you need m-" Krahn froze, sliding to a stop in front of an extremely tall octoling, wearing the infamous enchanted hat, white longcuff sweater, and punk whites, all while fitnessing the shade of violet ink that sparks fear in every opponent to lay eyes on it. "Hello there, Krahn.


	7. Chapter Six - Discussion

Krahn blinked slowly in disbelief, wanting to believe this was some kind of nightmare. "I-Iso Dunar..?" Krahn squeaked, his cyan eyes peeled open to the octarian looming before him. "Yep, that's me, the big scary guy," Iso replied playfully, flashing Krahn his signature half-assed smirk. "Holy mother of god.. You're really real.. And you're really.. Here?!" Krahn asked himself, starting to become overwhelmed with the astounding amount of new and unusual information being crammed into his head. "Mhm, where else do I go, I was thrown down here so your stupid hierchy wouldn't, and couldn't, deem me as a threat," Iso explained casually, his crimson eyes boring into Krahn's horrified cyan ones. "W-wow.. Iso Dunar.. Iso.. freaking.. Dunar.." Krahn breathed, still absolutely blown away by the circumstances he was in. "Anyway, Krahn, Iso here wanted to discuss the surface with you, and how to escape. I didn't know much, and Iso already knew about you, so I guess he figured he'd speak to you face to face," Vai said matter-of-factly, still keeping her usual bleak and serious tone in her voice whenever she was explaining something important. "You want to escape from the Deepsea Metro?" Krahn asked, confused, yet curious. "Yes, after talking with Iso, I've come to realize how oppressive this society really is, and I'd like to get away from all of the pressure," Vai answered coolly, strangely confident in such a bold claim. "Are you out of your mind? We'll never escape! They'll surely find us and get us back to the fuzz where we'll be imprisoned, maybe even sanitized early!" Krahn suddenly blurted, suddenly terrified for the octoling before him. "What will Mano and Nora think of this? Nora might be fine, but Mano? He'll freak!" Krahn rambled, clasping his fluffy hair out of a stress induced habit. "Krahn," Vai began, a strange sense of easiness in her tone. Krahn's gaze shot towards Vai's, his teeth gritting together as he grasped his afro tightly. "I promise you, it'll be alright. Stop pulling on your head," Vai ordered gently, leaning over to pry his hand from his scalp. "Fine, fine. Anyways, you want to escape, for real?" Krahn asked, nervousness still present in his voice, but a little less noticeable now. "Yes, I do. Please share what you know with Iso, and you two can just talk, alright?" Vai said softly, patting Krahn's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. Krahn smiled slightly, his gaze softening as the panic ebbed from his being. He then turned over to Iso, fluffing out his afro, and staring into his deep red eyes. "So you know how to get out of here?" Krahn asked, trying his best not to become too nervous around the elder octarian, afraid of the raw power lying dormant within him. "Indeed I do, but wouldn't you like to discuss a rational plan first?" Iso suggested, smirking slightly as his eyes almost seemed to glow, but it quickly stopped. Krahn was weirded out, but decided not to question it. "So you are aware of the main metro train, correct?" Iso queried, still making strong eye contact with Krahn as he sat cross-legged on the floor. "Yes, yes I do. It's where all octolings go to find the 'promised land', as quoted by DJ Octavio, who also quotes it to be a myth, but all octolings who tried to find it, never came back.." Krahn murmured, his gaze shifting, along with his focus. "Of course, and you will need to board this train, and meet someone named C.Q. Cumber, and he will give you the CQ-80, in which you will need to pass a multitude of varying tests in order to find your way to the surface. Although.." Iso trailed off, seeming to be lost in thought. Krahn leaned forward, sitting down in the cross-legged position and parallel to Iso. "I simply made a hole in the ceiling with my dynamo roller, I'm not sure if any of you can do that now, or if any of you main a weapon with long range and power.." Iso murmured, uncertainty tainting his tone. "Mano would be the only guy to know about weapons n' stuff. He's that kind of nerd," Krahn mentioned, chuckling slightly at his own remark. "Mano?" Iso mumbled quietly, his gaze flicking down to his boots. He shook his head quickly and resumed eye contact with the other octoling. "With enough power, the ceiling should give, and you will all superjump through the opening. From there, you four will go through the seven stages in which you will advance a level nearer to the surface. Some of them may be tricky since there are more of you, but if you all stick together and regroup whenever you can, you should be able to make it through all the Kambo Co. security system has to offer," Iso finished, smirking slightly at the idea of four octolings at once escaping to the surface. "Right, but how do we get to the central station?" Krahn asked worriedly, that being the only thing he wasn't certain about when it comes to directions. "Ah.. That, I don't seem to remember.." Iso murmured, his gaze dragging off to the side as uncertainty filled it. Krahn stayed quiet, staring at Iso for reassurance as his cyan eyes filled with worry. "I believe you certainly have to exit the entire campus, and I'm not sure how you can find your way out of that.. This is the second lowest level of the metro, being on the same level as the central station, but quite large at that. The ninth level is below us, and it is very large as well, consisting of mostly abandoned trains and subways, along with drafts of weapons and other things located there. While you're down there, though, there is a detour somewhere that will allow you to advance to the next level, but avoid the school campus, where most octolings live, and you can find the central station from there. The only thing that I'm not certain of is how to get there or where the detour is located exactly, but we can discuss that later. Anywho, you two should get back, before your other friends begin to suspect anything," Iso said pointedly, standing up and brushing himself off. Krahn nodded quickly and glanced over to Vai, who was doodling in the gravel off to the side. "We've gotta go, Vai, Nora and Mano might not know what's going on," Krahn said, making his way over to the hole that served as an entrance, gazing upward with frustration. "How the hell do we get out of here?" Krahn asked, clenching his fists as he became irritated at the thought of being stuck down there. "I'll help you two, no worries," Iso answered from behind. "Alrighty then," Krahn replied, not exactly believing what he was saying. Iso's hands raised near his head, and his eyes emitted a red glow, as ink puddles scattered around the room started to rise. "Holy shit.." Krahn muttered, already terrified enough of Iso as a person, due to his intimidating demeanor. The ink floated towards the ladder, seeping between what appeared to be a lock, and slipping into it. It suddenly hardened and expanded, making the lock explode and cause the ladder folded neatly behind the ladder attached to the inside of the hole come pummeling downwards. It hit its limit with a loud clang, the bars reaching down far enough for Krahn to grab a hold of them and climb upwards, Vai following behind closely. "Good luck, young ones," Iso called, most likely going back to sit on his weird chair and do whatever he does while being isolated. Krahn and Vai made their way up, while Vai grabbed ahold of Krahn again, and executed the same routine of teleportation to exit as was used to enter. They both flopped to the ground, the landing not being as neat as either of them had anticipated. "That was ass," Krahn said jokingly, rubbing the back of his head as he chuckled while Vai stood up and shook off the dust and gravel. "We better get back to the duplex now," he said, still smiling like a dork. "Right," Vai responded, taking the lead once more and taking him outside to wait for a train. After a few minutes of considerably peaceful silence, aside from the usual sounds of clanking in the distance, a train screeched to a stop in front of the pair, spewing up the pungent scent of diesel fuel. They stepped onto the train together, sitting near the door so they could exit rather quickly when the time came to do so. "So you really don't like it here, huh.." Krahn murmured, trying to be quiet out of fear of being heard. "Yeah. The whole 'deputy' deal was a little too fast for me, and now I have to do all of this extra work when I didn't even want to be the future minister of the district anyway," Vai complained quietly, her voice barely rising above a whisper, the train unearthly quiet, despite the usual noise of the wheels clanking against the tracks. Krahn hummed in acknowledgement, silently offering Vai his condolences. After a few more minutes of silence, the train stopped, and they exited together, approaching the pair of doors leading to the duplexes housing the students. They found their house, and were a little confused by the sight of the door open to Vai and Nora's dorm. Krahn and Vai both sped up their pace and made their way to the open doorway, only to see two guards in their room, with Nora and Mano sitting on a bed. "Vai and Krahn! Just in time," one of the guards said, malice lining her tone. "Yes?" Vai answered, her eyebrows furrowing with concern as her gaze shot over to the other two octolings sitting together. "Have a seat! We all must discuss a little something going on in this little household, yes?" the guard repeated, the other guard not saying anything, and only looking on. "Hm?" Vai hummed questioningly, confused, yet suspicious. Her and Krahn took a seat on the edge of the other bed, glancing nervously at Mano and Nora. "So, there's been a little thing going around saying that you'd like to, uhm, evade your responsibilities. Sound familiar?" she went on, a sinister grin plastered on her green flesh. "What?" Vai asked, starting to become worried at what the octoling was aware of. "You and your pathetic little friends want to escape from here, right?" she asked quietly, almost mockingly. "Pathetic?! I'm the strongest octoling you've ever met!" Mano spat, standing up and taking a defensive position. "Cute, but I don't recall speaking to you," she grinned, staring at Mano through her hypnoshades. Mano growled, but didn't sit down. "Well? Don't you want to escape? Don't you want freedom? Huh? Tell me Vai, what is it?" she cooed, her faux comfort and sympathy making Vai even more terrified. "W-we don't want to escape from the metro!" she sputtered, leaning away from the guards. She suddenly pulled out an octoshot, the other guard doing the same. "Bullshit." They both pulled the trigger, and everything went black.


	8. Chapter Seven - New

Vai rubbed the back of her head, groaning as her senses started to slip back into her control. Memories flushed back into her mind, her eyes suddenly snapping open as she flinched awake. Mano and Krahn were already awake, but sitting down next to each other instead of looking around. "What's going on?" Vai asked shakily, her voice trembling. "We aren't sure, but we looked around for a little bit, and couldn't find a way upstairs," Mano replied, sounding drab as usual. "Upstairs?" Vai echoed, suddenly remembering Iso's words about a detour to get up a level to the central station. "Oh, and what's with the clothes?" Vai asked, looking Mano and Krahn up and down, and eventually looking down at herself and observing her own clothing, not remembering changing out. "Dunno," Mano answered plainly, gazing around with lethargy hanging in his gaze. "I'm sure it was a lot of fun undressing you," Krahn said provocatively, raising an eyebrow at Mano and biting his lip. Mano scoffed and glared at Krahn, turning in the other direction. "Well, we've gotta find a way outta here, yeah?" Krahn chimed, standing up and making his way over to Nora and shaking her gently. "Yo, Nora, wake up," Krahn said softly, his hand wrapped around her bare shoulder. "Hmn.. what.. the hell?" Nora mumbled groggily, shaking her head slowly and ridding herself of sleepiness. "So what did you and Krahn do?" Mano asked suspiciously, eyeing Vai. She sighed, not wanting to reveal the truth, but feeling as if she had no choice now. "When I left The Hivemind's office yesterday, I found a grate on the floor, and decided to explore it, since it was so well hidden, and I found someone down there," Vai trailed off. Mano glared at her expectantly, irritated with how vague her explanation was. "And who was this?" He asked accusingly, almost sounding offended. Vai sucked in her breath, nervous about unveiling her whereabouts. "I-Iso Dunar-" she stammered, glancing off to the side. "WHAT?" Mano shouted, enraged, catching the attention of the other two octolings. Vai stayed silent, flinching at his noise level. "THE MOST DANGEROUS OCTARIAN? EVER?!" Mano screamed, his face beginning to burn and fluster as tears began to form in his eyes from frustration and fear for his friends. "Mano!" Krahn yelled over him, stressed out by Mano's sensitivity. "Shut the hell up! We don't know who or what is down here!" He shouted, desperation lining his tone. It was silent for a few more moments, and Mano regained control over himself. "Let's just keep going and walking around.." Krahn muttered, seeming more irritable than usual. He kept on pushing forward, slipping in between the openings of the entrances of the abandoned subway station. He glanced over at an empty booth, observing it quietly while the rest of the group followed behind. "Hey, guys! Maybe we can find someone who's lost like us, who can help us get out of here!" Krahn said suddenly, prancing around the cubicle and rummaging through the dusty papers on the desk inside of it. "These are blueprints of the facility! Booyah!" Krahn said happily, grasping the papers tightly and hopping out of the small office. "But.. It doesn't seem to be.. Uhm.. Accurate anymore.." he murmured quietly, taking notice of the ruins around him and his friends. "W-we'll be okay! I'm sure of it!" Krahn said nervously, marching forwards into the train in front of him, but lacking a door. "Krahn! Do not just go waltz in there! You said it yourself, we don't know what's down here, and we're unarmed!" Nora hissed quietly, running up next to him to catch up. "Yeah, but I have a good feeling about this. Don't worry!" He beamed, running ahead of the other octolings. Nora trailed behind quickly after as they ran down the train, and Mano eventually ran after them. Vai hung around the back, still uncertain of going into the abandoned subway, and she was worried about Mano's sudden outburst. She sighed and followed them down the train, eventually reaching a few puddles of their own pink ink all four octolings simultaneously jumped into the ink in octopus form, some more enthusiastic than others, and hopped through them, eager to find a way out of the abandoned section of the metro. They all eventually exited the train, the dim lighting of the general area freaking the group out. They walked down a long corridor that connected to a new room, now with harsher white light bearing down on them coldly, IV like items scattered around the room, some still filled with the liquid used to sanitize octolings. On the left, there was a cluster of machines used to keep the liquid safe and sterile for long periods of time, and it seemed to be just fine, considering it has certainly maintained its bright blue color and ominously bright glow. There was a pair of doors along this wall as well, with a vault blocking the exit. "Guess we gotta find a key.." Krahn murmured, staring at the vault. "These doors should allow us to get through. Considered outcasts or not, we're still octarians," Vai said pointedly, and stepped on the locked pad in front of the door. It suddenly matched the color of Vai's ink, and an inkrail was activated. Vai looked back at her friends, urging them forwards, and swimming in it towards another room. There was an equipper in the room, which gave Vai a Splattershot Jr. and a splat bomb. The other three octolings also equipped the same weapon, advancing forward and scanning their surroundings once more. "Let's start looking," Vai announced, spraying her ink on the boxes blocking her path, and running over to the left. Krahn and Nora went to the right, and Mano headed to the center first. Mano almost immediately popped the balloon fish in the center, destroying any other boxes within its radius. Nora was busting crates while Krahn was popping balloons, searching just as hard for the key as the rest of the crew. Vai slid back and forth on the dash tracks, letting out little yelps of surprise as they propelled her forward. "You okay Vai?" Krahn asked her jokingly, still busy with the floating targets. "Y-yeah, I just haven't been on these in quite a while. I would slide on them when I was a fry, but now it's surprisingly intimidating," Vai laughed, landing steadily on a taller platform and busting the boxes on it. Mano activated a guardrail, and was drifting smoothly on it, doing a front flip as he hopped off of it onto the same platform as Vai. "Wow," Vai chuckled, amused by his attempt to flatter her. Mano smirked, returning to his duties as a key finder. "Ay yo!" Krahn yelled, high above anyone else. "I found the key!" he hollered, smiling dorkishly as he hopped down from where he stood victoriously. "How'd he even get up there..?" Vai muttered questioningly, squinting at the cyan-eyed octoling. "Let's go!" Krahn shouted, running back over to the equipper. It quickly stole his weapon back, sparking a gasp from the octarian. "Hey!" He yelped, confused by the sudden theft. "Keep moving, Krahn. The equipper only lends you weapons," Mano said informatively, pointing towards the inkrail in front of him. "Oooh! Kinda like Grizzco, yeah?" Krahn beamed, a huge sparkling grin plastered on his face. Mano's facial muscles contorted into that of pure confusion, and shook his head slightly. "Uhh, sure," Mano replied slowly, his half lidded eyes shutting for a moment as he sighed quietly. The group of four swiftly swam through the inkrail, popping out of it and making their way to the vault. Krahn gulped as he pressed the key into the keyhole, staring up at the unusually large cube for a vault. It suddenly opened with ridiculous speed, and the walls of it dissipated, leaving another dark corridor stretching before them. Krahn sighed with relief, smiling reassuringly back at his friends as they all slumped with relief. "Onward!" Krahn declared, marching forward like how an octarian soldier would. They all trailed behind him, walking on the train tracks that appeared to be abandoned. "It sure is dark in here.." Nora murmured nervously, her footsteps almost inaudible as she tread quietly. "Don't worry Nor! You've got me!" Krahn said confidently, still marching in the pitch blackness of the long hallway. Nora chuckled softly, her high pitched voice sounding shaky in the epitome of darkness before them. Ahead of the group, though, there was a dim light, which seemed to urge the two pairs of octarians to walk faster, and to investigate their potential haven in this maze of corridors, all void of light. They all sped up, the clicking of their boots on the wooden tracks becoming louder and more rushed. The light became stronger, the mere sight of a warm, yellow light fueling their legs as they ran faster and faster towards it. "The end! There it is!" Nora yelled, running ahead of the other octarians. They all suddenly burst out of the corridor, running down the tracks until they came to a violent halt. "Oof!" Krahn yelped, slamming into Mano. Mano only grumbled while Krahn grinned nervously. "The tracks just.. End.." Vai murmured, staring down at the endless void below her boots. "Damn.." Mano said quietly, staring down with her. "C'mon guys! Check this out!" Krahn shouted, hauling Nora up onto the concrete floor. Mano pushed himself up off of the tracks, and held his hand down to Vai, offering her up. She smiled and took it, pushing up off of the floor as he heaved her up next to him. "Thanks," Vai said, smiling slightly. "No problem," Mano replied, a smile that almost seemed genuine painted on his tanned face. They both stood next to Nora and Krahn, who were scanning the area with awe. "See!" Krahn said excitedly. "It's central station!"


	9. Chapter Eight - The beginning

"Wow," Vai breathed, taking in her surroundings. Dim lights hung from the ceiling, gently illuminating the dazed octolings below, staring at the area around them. "This is incredible," Mano murmured, still shocked at the sight of an area that was outside the education establishment. "You got that right!" Krahn said enthusiastically, starting to walk around a little more. "Hey guys, what's that?" Nora asked, her voice rather timid. The floor suddenly rattled, shaking the feet of all four octolings. A light suddenly beamed out of the parallel corridor, the rumbling becoming increasingly noisy. A train suddenly shot out of the hallway, screeching to a halt in front of the crew. "Woah!" Krahn said, his cyan eyes gawking at the train. It appeared more run down than the ones near the school, with more dents, scratches, rust, graffiti, you name it, sprinkled all over its silver flesh. "Let's go!" Krahn shouted, walking up to the train and boarding it quickly. "Hey, wait up!" Nora whined, following close behind. Krahn laughed as he disappeared behind the wall, along with Nora running after him. Vai and Mano followed behind them a bit more slowly, naturally more skeptical of the circumstances. "Ay yo, Iso said we would meet some guy named C.Q. Cumber! But really, who in the world would name their kid that?" Krahn laughed, tilting his head back as he laughed hysterically. "That would be me, sir." A small blue sea slug slithered out in front of the four octolings, appearing to be staring at Krahn. "O-oh, sorry man, I didn't think it would be.. That.. Literal.." Krahn said quietly, yet apologetically. "It's quite alright. I am your humble conductor, C.Q. Cumber, and I've already heard a lot about you four," he began, his "eyes" scanning every single one of them. "I take it your aim is to reach the promised land?" he asked, cocking his tiny head to the left in query. "Yes indeedy!" Krahn beamed, grinning at the small blue creature. "Understood," he answered, slipping back to where he originally was, the automatic doors sliding shut behind him. "Where is he going?" Nora asked, visibly confused, yet curious. "Not sure," Vai replied, gazing around the inside of the train. "Hmph.." Krahn grumbled, folding his arms tightly around his chest, a cross expression engraved onto his face. "I thought it was funny.." Krahn muttered, his forced angry face making Nora giggle. The automatic doors opened once more to reveal the miniature conductor, now possessing a strange object in his "hand". "What's that?" Krahn, of course, was the first to ask the question that immediately entered the group's minds. "It is a CQ-80 device. This will aid you in your escape to the surface. It contains all the tests you need, and a map of the area of the deepsea metro you will need to access in order to take these tests, and hopefully pass them." he explained formally, turning his head to Mano, who looked confused, but masked it with his typical poker face. "You seem to be the leader of these four, given that you're the most relaxed, and I believe I've heard of you before. Mano Kijanoka, is it?" C.Q. asked, giving the device to Mano, as he gently took ahold of the unusual electronic ware. "Yes, that is me," Mano answered, smirking slightly as his pride began to warm him once more, making him feel confident in himself again. C.Q. hummed in acknowledgement, nodding his head in respect for the powerful octoling sitting before him. "Shall I direct you to your first test?" he asked, still staring at Mano. "Actually, uhh, we travelled for a while, and I am quite exhau-" "Of course," Mano interrupted Krahn considerably quickly, seemingly eager to combat something. C.Q. nodded, not speaking any other words. "Let us begin, then. Please open up your CQ-80 device. If you need assistance, I'm always happy to help," C.Q. instructed. Mano quickly pressed a button on the side of the mechanism, projecting a large screen in front of the group that had an arrangement of dots on a yellow line, with one larger dot presumably showing where they were located at the time of opening the device. "Fantastic work, ," C.Q. commented, his rather shrill voice sounding slightly impressed. Mano nodded, still gazing at the screen in astonishment. "Please scroll upward once, that will lead you to your first test. I will direct you there," C.Q. said again, nodding before turning around once more, and exiting through the automatic doors leading to another section of the train. Mano flicked the small red lever-like object nearing the top of the device, making it to where the view of the map zeroed in on the smaller dot above the location labelled "central station". Mano pressed another button, and then the map disappeared. Suddenly, the train began to shift, after quite some time of ambience. It began to hurl itself forwards, flashing to another location in what seemed to be the blink of an eye. As quickly as it had begun, the train stopped, arriving at a small station area that was cube shaped. C.Q. slithered out, waving the crew over with a long tentacle-like limb. The four stepped out, gazing around the area and staring through the transparent walls and open sky stretching above their heads. Plastic trees stretched far beyond their field of vision, small IV-like objects attached to their trunks, presumably giving them their unusual bright blue glow. "Hey, Vai? What are those little packet things in the trees?" Nora asked carefully, fear edging her voice as her violet eyes scanned them. "They're for the sanitization process, but usually they're used for 'rehabilitation', which is for when the regular formula doesn't do the trick on the client. It's only a small dosage, but it's for the ones who fight against the sanitization," Vai explained, eyeing the walls, which appeared to be steel. "In order to take this test, you must have CQ points. Allow me to grant you a few for the start of your journey. At the equipper, you may equip a weapon of your choosing. Each weapon varies in difficulty when it comes to the particular challenge, but the reward increases based on which weapon you pick. For now, you all may use the splattershot, and the reward will be 500 CQ points," C.Q. said, one of his limbs extending to the pair of locked doors and inserting a card that was ejected from their CQ-80. "Also, might I add, that depending on whichever test you take, there will be a twist or catch, due to the fact that there are four of you instead of only one. This will play a great factor in the difficulty of each test, so be wise when considering making a rash decision. For this test, it is quite simple, except the normal difficulty has been raised four times, as well as the level of intelligence of the CPUs you will encounter. Are you all ready?" C.Q. asked, turning his tiny head towards the group. Krahn looked confused, Nora was visibly shaken, Mano appeared determined, and Vai seemed content. "Of course," Vai answered for the group, smiling slightly at the rest of them. "Then with all of the encouragement I may offer, I wish you all good luck," he said finally, lifting his miniature conductor's hat off of his head, nodding in consideration to her, and slithering back onto the train. It suddenly shot off into the distance, leaving the crew to stand there, starstruck. "W-what?" Nora stammered. "Hey- where'd he go?" Krahn suddenly spat, his face twisting into what seemed to be a watered-down version of anger, due to his immense levels of confusion, even homesickness. "Guess he'll come back when we're done," Mano stated plainly, approaching the pair of doors. "Or if we die," Vai muttered, a dark tone tainting her voice. Nora and Krahn both flinched at her words, not expecting something so serious. "Holy shit.." Krahn stammered, dumbfounded. "D-don't be like that! We won't die down here!" Nora said loudly, nervousness clouding her gaze as she glanced around. Vai only hummed quietly in confusion, sounding doubtful. "Come on, we have a test to pass," Mano said impatiently, pressing a button on the doors as he stared outside of the cubicle. He was suddenly flung outside of it, the doors shutting behind him quickly, "Mano!" Krahn yelled, dashing up to the doors and slamming on the button. It flung him outside as his screams echoed from outside, "Oh my God!" Nora screeched, pressing the button was well and flying outside. Vai followed them promptly afterwards, finally finding out where the group had landed. All four of them had accumulated in a small pile on what seemed to be a respawn point. Vai slipped into octopus form on instinct, slithering through the mound of octolings on top of the checkpoint. Nora groaned quietly as she gently slid off of the other two crew members, shaking her head as she clasped her temples. "Hey, what the hell?! You didn't have to land on me like that!" Krahn whined, wriggling off of Mano and pacing around with irritation. "We must proceed now, we have no other options than to do so," Mano remarked, brushing himself off as he stared straight ahead. "Right.." Vai murmured, standing next to him. Mano quickly advanced forward, briefly observing his surroundings in the process. The setting was bleak, and extremely unsettling with its unusual neon palette. The group of four slowly analyzed everything they came across, making mental notes of every plastic tree, IV packet, and blade of turf being crushed under their boots. Suddenly, the distant call of a guard octoling sounded, becoming increasingly louder by the second, and a loud thump following it. "What was that?" Nora asked shakily, trailing behind the four closely. "Guard," Mano answered plainly, pursuing the voice with confidence and ardor. He suddenly burst from the trees, along with the other three octarians by his side. "Fugitives!" the other octarian hissed, facing them threateningly. "Just one? Hah," Krahn chuckled, gripping his splattershot confidently. Three other enemy octolings emerged from the ink around the first one, snarling at the group as they cowered behind Mano slightly. "Shit.." Mano whispered, the color draining from his face. The four lunged aggressively, all having octoshots in hand, already beginning to shoot at them mercilessly, their grotesque sea green ink spraying over the grassy arena. Mano flung himself into the fray, shooting in a rabid and unfocused manner. "Holy shit, do something!" Krahn yelled, sprinting after him, and throwing a splat bomb towards the center of the battle, aiming to eliminate at least one enemy with a trick shot. His attempt was successful, and now three rather tenacious enemies remained. Mano almost immediately splatted another one, while Vai and Nora both sped towards another, and Krahn aiming for the last octarian standing amongst the enemies. Krahn terminated the other octoling, whilst Vai and Nora annihilated the remaining opposing force. "Guess that's all of 'em," Krahn sighed, panting slightly as the crew recovered from the seemingly spontaneous attack. "Let's move on," Mano said suddenly, determination present in his deep voice. The other three nodded, starting to become weary of their surroundings, and what could be lurking within the green ink caking every corner of the area. "Think there's more?" Nora asked cautiously, her timid violet gaze scanning the trees surrounding them. "Most likely," Mano answered, brushing his tentacle out of his face. They all slowly pushed further into the unknown territory, the tension in the air raising every passing minute. They swam forward into the path of ink they created, until they come across another checkpoint. "Oh.. Guess this is another checkpoint," Vai mumbled, peering around the newly revealed area. "I suppose so.. There must be other areas we are required to clear before reaching the goal to pass the test," Mano remarked, still gazing around, and quickly observing two large columns of brick in front of himself and his friends. There was a thick puddle of ink on top of both pillars, in which two octolings emerged, one with a roller, and another with a brella. "There's only two, right?" Nora asked shakily, her gaze darting around the trees sprinkled sparsely amongst the area. Three other octarians emerged from ink splattered around the towers, three of them holding a roller, the other three holding a brella. "..No," Mano answered slowly, gripping his splattershot tightly. "There.. Are eight.. This time.."


	10. Chapter Nine - Hijack

Mano exhaled quickly, gripping his splattershot even tighter as his index finger hovered over the trigger. "Seek and destroy!" The octoling with the roller screeched, jumping down from the pillar along with the other one, all eight of them surging forward. "Go.." Mano murmured, starting to bring his arms back to his sides in a defensive position. "GO!" he yelled, advancing deep into the fray. Mano threw a splat bomb ahead of him, already obliterating two of the opponents. Krahn followed close behind, also throwing a splat bomb ahead of him as he dove into his ink, recharging it, and leaping towards a group of three. The bomb he had thrown didn't kill any of them, but the one with the brella blocked it, and the rollers only took minor damage. The three advanced onto him almost immediately, the brella getting a hitmarker on him, and the roller squashing him before he could even take a breath. "Krahn!" Nora screamed, her tussle with another octoling soon ending as she pressed on the trigger sporadically in a fit of panic and anger towards the octolings, terminating the rollers and scaring the brella off into Mano's direction. "Guys! Krahn got squashed!" Nora yelled, looking around desperately for the toffee skinned boy. Vai had splatted another octoling that was charging towards her before she turned to Nora. Mano finished the one running towards him off with a splat bomb, and another, by slipping around it in his ink and splatting it when it was vulnerable. He whipped his head around to face Nora as well, confusion and panic welling up in his chest when he couldn't see the remaining teammate in his peripheral. Painful silence rained for what seemed like an eternity. "..Krahn..?" Mano stammered quietly, starting to become increasingly worried with every breath. Far from everyone's current location, the ink in the nearby checkpoint stirred, and a form rose up from the spawning point. "Krahn!" Nora shouted, sprinting towards him joyfully. "Ay, I'm not dead?" Krahn asked, sounding just as bewildered as the others. "Nope, that's a respawn point for us, just in case we struggle.." Vai trailed off, seemingly not finished with her explanation. "And?" Krahn pressed, slightly worried at her sudden silence. "There is a limited amount of times you can respawn, before you're kinda done for.." Vai mumbled, sparking worry amongst the rest of the team. "What?!" Nora yelled, terrified of the possibilities. "Yeah, so we have to be careful, especially on the tougher levels with more foes," Vai added, blinking slowly as her yellow gaze trailed down to her boots to avoid eye contact with her now weary teammates. "Let us proceed for now, and we can discuss this matter later," Mano said quietly, shaking his head and turning his head towards the next checkpoint up ahead of them. "Looks like the last one.." Vai murmured, glancing around to analyze as much as she could at her distance. Mano hummed in agreement, smiling slightly due to the fact that he gets to work with Vai side by side. "Aight, then let's get the hell outta here! I'm pooped," Krahn complained, making a pouty face at Vai and Mano. Vai smirked slightly, narrowing her eyes at him with sympathy. "C'mon," Vai urged softly, her smile deepening as she turned to face Mano. His crimson eyes bored into her piercing yellow ones, causing the two of them to smile slightly. "Aww," Nora cooed, clasping her hands together as a huge grin spread across her pale face. Mano grimaced, averting his gaze and staring off into the distance as a slight blush spread across his face. "Let's get going, we don't know what will happen if we're here much longer," Vai advised, finally advancing forward, and taking the lead in place of Mano. They all activated the next and final checkpoint, as a loud ringing sound echoed off of the steel walls, notifying the group of their impending victory, at least as they hoped. A crash-like sound was heard to the left of the group, causing their heads to flip over towards the noise. "Ay yo Vai! I found a mask for ya, if you want it," Krahn said, holding up a black piece of fabric. "Oh, sure, thanks," Vai responded quietly, gently taking it from his hand and slipping the loops over her rounded ears. "It looks great, Vai," Mano commented softly, smiling at her. "Thanks," Vai replied, sounding blunt, yet there was still a trace of thankfulness in her tone. After investigating the surrounding area for any potential armor or whatever they could get their hands on, Mano came across a case hidden in another crate. "Found something," Mano called, inspecting the case slightly, which appeared to be a case for a layer of null armor you could wear. He opened it up, and was immediately protected, a helmet, chestplate, shoulder plates, and boots adorning his previously exposed flesh. "Hell yeah!" Mano exclaimed, grinning boldly with satisfaction. "Null armor?" Nora asked, gazing Mano up and down as she took in every detail of the outfit. "Yep, and God how it feels great to wear," Mano grinned, resting his hands on his hips and staring off into the distance with determination. "Let's go," Mano announced, slowly walking forward and digging his new boots in the dirt proudly. Vai smiled at him slightly, apparently amused at his newfound determination. The four proceeded forward, scanning the area. It looked quite similar to the two areas they have already surpassed. The crew slowly advanced up to the two brick columns, and then suddenly stopped at the sound of another enemy octoling warning call. "Wait," Mano murmured, his head snapping upwards as his intense crimson gaze scanned the columns for any sign of another life form. There was a mere moment of silence before boots quietly knocked on the bricks towering above them, and a shadow was cast over the group, making all four them look up towards the source. An enemy octoling hovered over them, holding two weapons in each hand, each of them appearing to be a simplified version of an ordinary automatic. "Vai..?" Krahn asked slowly, drawing his splattershot up to his chest. "What.. are those?" The octoling let out another screech, and three more emerged from the ink sprayed around the arena, two at ground level, and another one standing atop the brick column parallel to the first octoling. All four of them charged towards them, all possessing some sort of new weapon, that was even unfamiliar to Krahn, who used to work in the weapons department, and would manufacture weapons for octarians to use in battle. Mano let out a deafening roar, charging towards the four of them blindly, spraying ink in all directions as he quickly advanced forward. Nora followed quickly behind, her nerves powering her forward as she flung herself into the fray. Krahn trailed behind lastly, leaving Vai to stare in awe at the weaponry they possessed, as it fascinated her as well as concerned her. The three of them lunged in the direction of the four enemy octarians, all in one formation as they gritted their teeth and clenched the triggers of their splattershots in unison. All at once, though, the four octolings with the unusual weapons dodged away, almost like a roll, and began flanking all three of them at once. Almost immediately after this moment, the three splattershot users still in shock, one of the enemies rose off the ground, two streams of ink violently spitting out onto the ground and coating the floor in ink, appearing to be some sort of extremely advanced weapon compared to their splattershots. "Inkjet!" Vai screamed, retreating behind a large crate, out of sight to the other octarians in front of her. "Ink WHAT?!" Mano yelled back, sounding absolutely dumbfounded. The octoling, now rising much higher above the group, let out a maniacal laugh, and began shooting huge globs of ink towards the group. "Shiiiiit! That's an inkjet!" Krahn screeched, shooting at one of the enemy octolings and taking it out, to the relief of the team. "What?!" Nora yelped, her voice shrill. "We better fuckin' run until she's descended!" Krahn hollered to them, taking a defensive position now and shooting at any octolings that attack him. Nora flinched away from another terrifyingly large blob of ink, trying to shoot at the enemy towering above her. "Nora, no! That's too dangerous!" Mano shouted loudly, taking out the other two enemy octolings while doing so. "Guys-" Nora tried to call someone over, but everyone watched helplessly as she exploded into a sickening puddle of sea foam green. "Nora!" Krahn screamed, agony dragging out his voice as he darted towards her. The octarian in the sky finally shot back down to the ground, returning to its unusual dual shooters. Vai threw a splat bomb on its landing point, terminating it almost immediately after its boots dug into the dirt. "Where is she?" Krahn whimpered, landing on his knees next to the ink puddle that would've been where Nora was standing, if it hadn't been for her mix of love for her teammates and her obliviousness to her impending danger. "Nora.." Krahn mumbled painfully, his voice cracking, and making Vai and Mano feel uneasy at his sudden grief. "Krahn.." Vai murmured, quietly attempting to soothe her distressed friend. Everyone's heads snapped toward the sound of ink stirring behind them, and a familiar ponytail forming above it all. "N-Nora..?" Krahn sniffled, his cyan eyes widening as he gazed upon her inky silhouette. "Bleh.. So uncomfortable.." she muttered, dusting herself off and straightening her back. "Nora!" Krahn yelled joyously, sprinting in her direction and wrapping his arms around her waist, lifting her up off the ground and spinning her around in a small circle before setting her back down and enveloping her in a tight embrace. Nora giggled quietly, hugging him back and nuzzling into his neck. "Okay guys, this is great and all, but let's get going," Mano said shortly, already making his way towards the final pair of large doors. "Right!" Nora cheered, relief and exhaustion edging her tone. Krahn and Nora's eyes remained locked for another moment, before they finally parted and trailed after Mano. Vai followed the rest of her teammates, smiling under her mask. Once the crew got close enough, the two massive doors clanked loudly and slid open slowly, revealing an unusual pole-like object with some sort of shield surrounding it. "What's that?" Krahn queried, approaching it slowly, his splattershot in hand. "That's a data point. Shoot it to break the shield. It regenerates though, so grab it whenever it's exposed," Vai answered, staring at it as the golden sheen of the force field surrounding it radiated a minuscule amount of light around it. "Great, let's finish this," Mano replied shortly, throwing a splat bomb at the golden protective field encasing the data point. He then lurched forward and snatched it, or at least tried to, since as soon as the tip of his finger came in contact with its cool metal surface, it slipped underneath his hand and below all four octolings surrounding it. "The hell?" Mano spat, his irritated confusion spreading quickly to his teammates. Krahn's gaze dragged slowly to Vai's silently asking her for an explanation. "This.." her timid voice trailed off, her yellow eyes dropping to her boots, seemingly unsure of how to explain what was happening, or how to reassure her friends. An uncomfortable silence rained, a feeling of insecurity rippling throughout the group. As soon as the quiet came, a distant rumbling sounded to the right of the crew. Everyone's heads slowly turned towards the noise, their eyes narrowing. The ground began to vibrate, and two excruciatingly bright headlights beamed in front of them, the horn of a train echoing in their ears. The four waited, their posture stiff and tense from anxiety. The train hurled itself in front of them, stopping at last, and to everyone's relief. C.Q. slithered out of the doors leading to the front of the train, gazing upon the four mortified octarians. "Congratulations," he began, flicking his "head" up to look at all of them a bit easier. "What-" Krahn attempted to interject, but C.Q. cut him off rather quickly. "You have completed your first test," he announced, allowing the octarians before him to take it in all at once. "We did..?" Mano finally asked tentatively, still uncertain about the sudden disappearance of the data point. "Yes. I have collected the data point. Let us proceed back to the beginning of the station and to the equipper, so you all may return your weapons," C.Q. finished, turning back around to the train. "Return?!" Krahn exclaimed, seemingly distressed about not permanently owning the splattershot. He groaned at the sudden realization, and followed his comrades back onto the train. They revisited the equipper, and regretfully returned the weapons, all four of them trudging back onto the train from exhaustion. They all took a seat, sighing a small breath of relief and leaning their heads back on the windows behind them. "Finally.." Krahn huffed, clasping his inky afro out of an anxious habit. "Krahn, stop that," Nora commanded gently, trying to pry his fingers from his head. "Stoooop," Krahn whined, swatting her hands away from his pouty face. As Nora frisked over Krahn's hair, Mano turned his head towards Vai. "You okay?" he asked softly, their gazes meeting. She nodded slightly, blinking slowly at him as they maintained eye contact. "Anything on your mind?" Mano asked after another moment of silence, seemingly concerned for her well being. "Well, I-" Vai suddenly gasped, agony scorching through her head, almost like a migraine suddenly making her head pound. "Vai?!" Mano said, sounding panicked now. Vai held her head in her hands tightly, letting out a cry of pain as it only intensified. Krahn and Nora soon took notice of this, immediately worried at the sight of Vai holding herself. "Hey, listen to me Vai! Stay with me!" Mano cried, grasping her shoulders and gently shaking her, desperation clearly present in his deep voice. Vai began coughing suddenly, her body jerking aggressively. After a few more moments of this, a thick purple liquid trickled from her lips and dripped onto the floor. "Vai..?" Mano's voice sounded hollow and horrified now, not understanding what was happening to his friend. Vai let out a long whimper, clutching her chest now, as it had started to burn from her violent coughing fit. Her vision blurred, her hearing was fuzzy, and the corners of her eyes began to darken. "Vai," A familiar voice murmured into her ear, making her hold onto her consciousness for only a moment longer, but then almost immediately, all of her senses slipped from her grip. "Iso.."


	11. Chapter Ten - Quandary

Vai's head throbbed violently, almost believing for a split second that she was waking up to her duplex with Nora, and simply suffering from another stress induced headache. She finally gained control over her vision, gazing around her surroundings in an attempt to analyze her location. She felt dread and grief evelop her as she realized what she had experienced wasn't a nightmare. Her throat swelled, and sorrow hit her like a brick wall, as thoughts of waking up to Nora reassuring her after a nightmare infiltrated her mind. Thoughts of Krahn playfully whining about getting up early for work. Tears spilled out of her eyes, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the situation she and her friends have been forcefully placed in.

"Vai..? Vai!" Nora's fuzzy voice broke through her eidolon, causing her tears to subside only slightly. "Hey, are you there?" Mano's voice intruded as well, causing her eyelids to flutter open slightly, meeting his gaze. "Mano..?" Vai murmured, her yellow eyes glazed as they locked with Mano's crimson ones. He smiled slightly at her, then it immediately disappeared when Nora noticed it. Her head was in Mano's warm hands, and she was somewhat lazily laying on top of him while he cradled her head. His thumb brushed against her cheek, in a small attempt to help her wake up slowly and comfortably.

"So you're awake! Thank the heavens, we were worried sick about you!" Krahn interjected, poking his head into Vai's peripheral vision. "What.. What happened..?" Vai mumbled, turning her head slightly so it could rest in Mano's hand, making him blush slightly. "You were talking to loverboy here-" Krahn began, before Mano responded to that claim with a growl, invoking a nervous chuckle from Krahn. "Ahem, Mano, before you had a coughing fit and passed out," Krahn finished, crossing his arms as he looked down at a half conscious Vai. "You said something before you did though.. What was it?" Nora chimed, her violet eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Iso," Mano answered, almost grimly. "Iso? Isn't that the guy that overthrew the government a while back?" Nora replied, sounding dumbfounded. "Yes, it is," Mano answered, seemingly not finishing his sentence. Krahn stiffened at Mano's sudden silence, seemingly anticipating him to mention his and Vai's visit with the famous octarian. Mano glanced at Krahn, making eye contact with him for only a moment, before staring back down at Vai once more.

"Mano.." Vai whined quietly, snuggling deeper into his lap. "Vai, stop-" Mano whispered, seemingly alarmed. Krahn laughed hysterically, toppling over on his back. "Shut up Krahn!" Mano snarled at him, glaring daggers at the cackling octoling. "Don't go pitching a tent now! You know we don't have nighttime around here~" Krahn jeered, laughing and snorting once more at his own joke. Mano only huffed angrily as a response, desperately attempting to reach his hands under Vai's head to move it. "Hey guys! Is Vai awake yet?" Nora came storming in from the neighboring train cart, with C.Q. trailing after her. "Oh, she will be in a minute if Mano doesn't move her head~" Krahn once again interjected. "I said shut up!" Mano shouted back at him, visibly flustered now as he gently held her head in his hands. Nora giggled at the interaction, seemingly aware of the issue. "She's kind of awake," Mano finally answered, somewhat uncertain of himself, and rightfully so.

Mano gently lifted her head up above his lap, and placed it on his knee, as he sat cross-legged on the tiled floor. Vai trembled slightly, seemingly bothered by something, while mumbling inaudibly.

"Vai, I've chosen to follow you during your journey," Iso's voice echoed within her mind once again, making her shiver. "W-what? Why? How..?" Vai thought, muttering pathetically as her thoughts crumbled. "Well, firstly, when you fell into my dwelling, you cut your forearm, and a small portion of my ink got into it, which allowed me to infect you," Iso answered, bluntly as always. "Unusual, but why did you even feel obligated to tag along..?" Vai asked quietly, her voice slowly becoming more clear, but to her friends' alarm, her half-lidded eyes remained glazed. "I thought I didn't cut myself.." Vai replied, uncertain of Iso's claim. "Oh, you must not have noticed. You weren't bleeding, but there was an open wound," Iso reassured, sounding confident. Vai didn't have the willpower to lift up her arm and inspect it, but she trusted his judgement. "You've gotta wake up now, alright? Your buddies are expecting you," Iso concluded. Vai didn't respond. "Any time I wish to communicate with you, I will temporarily take over a small portion of your mind. No worries though! I don't plan on controlling you completely, since I have no reason to do so. There isn't enough ink in your system for me to do even if I did want to," Iso added, seemingly playfully, but with a menacing tone, as usual. "Awaken to them," Iso finally said.

Vai snapped back to full consciousness, her eyes springing open as she regained control over her senses. "Vai!" Nora squeaked, rushing toward her and clutching her tightly. Vai smiled slightly, starting to calm down after her unusual interaction. "What happened?" Krahn asked, obviously worried, but seemingly trying to cover it up with his joyful attitude. Vai paused before she answered, wondering if she should tell them about Iso.

"Don't. This is between you and I," it seemed like her own mind didn't generate this thought, but as if more than one person was in her head. She assumed it was Iso communicating with her in a subconscious way, and stayed silent. What was slightly unusual about this was that she didn't hear his voice, but the sentence came like a normal thought of her own would, which made her contemplate the ways Iso could communicate with her. "Must've taken the exercise too hard or something, dunno," Vai muttered, rubbing her temples slightly.

"Are you sure?" Mano's deep reassuring voice sounded from above her head, causing her to look upward at him, and Nora to release her grip on her. Vai smiled slightly as she made eye contact with the other octoling, causing him to glance off to the side slightly, seemingly embarrassed about something. "You seem flustered," Vai commented quietly, apparently trying to keep her voice out of earshot from the other two octarians beside them. Mano didn't respond, he only turned his head further to the side to avoid eye contact. Krahn chuckled slightly, apparently holding back a laugh. Vai was confused, but didn't prod any more, mostly out of concern for Mano.

"Never mind that, we need to see if we accomplish anything else soon," Mano muttered, his gaze still pinned to the wall. "Right! Let's get out of here ASAP," Krahn chimed, appearing to be enthusiastic at Vai's return. "Alright," Vai murmured in agreement, sitting up and meeting the gazes of the two octolings in front of her. They both smiled at her, standing up. Vai stood with them, along with Mano, who was behind her.

"So, C.Q., which challenges are left on the list right now?" Nora asked, looking down at him. "You have only unlocked line A at the moment, and after completing your first task, you have unlocked two new options. You can go left or right," C.Q. finished, looking at the four expectantly. "What stations are they?" Mano asked, impatience present in his eager tone. "Roll Out station, and Bounce With Me station," C.Q. answered. "Roll out station?" Nora asked. "Yes. The four of you will have to dodge barricades of sorts and defeat enemies at this station," he began. "Is that it?" she pressed, skeptical of the simplicity of the task at hand. "No, it is not. All of you must use the special weapon "baller" in order to complete this," C.Q. finished, leaving the group shocked. "..Only a special weapon?" Krahn echoed, dumbfounded, much like each of his teammates. "Indeed," C.Q. confirmed, gazing upon the starstruck octarians standing before him. "And about the other one?" Vai queried, seeming to be more curious than afraid. "Essentially the same idea, but you all will have a blaster as a weapon, and you all will be on bounce pads for the majority of the test," C.Q. explained to her, observing the facial muscles of the other octolings starting to relax slightly. All of them were silent, taking their time to process the information handed to them.

"Let's try the Roll Out station," Mano suddenly said, causing everyone else to snap out of their train of thought. "What? We didn't decide together-" Vai attempted to interject, concern present in her voice, but Mano cut her off. "Any objections?" The room was quiet. After a few more moments of uncomfortable silence, Mano spoke once more. "Roll Out it is then," Mano concluded, picking up the CQ-80 that was left on the seat behind where he stood, and where he had left it last. He switched it on, the large screen projecting in front of the four of them. He flicked the joystick to the left, and clicked down on the new station, causing the train to slow to a stop, and almost immediately after, started back up, presumably on a new route to the selected station.

The four octarians sat down, eagerly waiting for their destination, while C.Q. returned to the front of the train. After what seemed to be a few minutes, the train finally screeched to a stop, and they all stepped out to a new test, and with an entirely different setting. C.Q. got off of the train with them and stood in the corner, wishing them luck whenever they gave him an uncertain look.

They all took a deep breath, and pressed the button to launch them all forward. All four of them catapulted out of the cubicle, landing on a checkpoint, and a baller encasing them as they landed on a platform. Soon after, a timer appeared high above them, reading for one minute. "What the hell?!" Krahn yelled, panicking at the sight of it towering above them. "Guess we're timed, let's go!" Vai replied quickly, rolling ahead of her teammates. She rolled onto the dash tracks ahead of them, which caused her to shoot even further ahead onto the next platform. The other three followed her with a brisk pace, the timer making all of their minds haywire. "Those platforms are moving," Vai remarked quickly, alerting her teammates as they approached. They all let out a huff as they heaved themselves onto the next platforms, now afraid of falling off, but still being careful to not bump into each other. "We can't save each other if we fall, so we just have to be careful! We can't afford to have anyone fall behind with the timer going, and time doesn't have a kind heart," Vai shouted back again, still considerably far ahead of everyone else, and apparently not struggling as much with it as much as her other friends. They all managed to get across, finding another dash track and jumping onto it. Vai had already been quite far ahead, and when her other free comrades heard an explosion come from in front of them, and a sea of ink splash into the air, they all panicked and rushed forward.

"Vai?! Are you-" "Let's go," Vai cut off Krahn's worried call, a baller concealing her once more, which confused the other octarians by her side. "What happened?" Mano asked, staring at the new baller around her. "I manually detonated it. There was a sanitized octotrooper there. I assume we will be seeing many more of those as we go along," Vai explained rapidly. "Now let's go, time isn't on our side," she commanded once more, rushing forward to more dash tracks ahead of them. "Wait, wait! That's just a wall!" Krahn yelled, staring at the tall barricade in front of them. "Then we climb," Vai responded, flying forwards and sticking to the wall, which shocked the rest of her teammates. "Here we go," Nora grimaced, bracing for impact. Surprisingly to her and everyone else, the plastic absorbed the impact, and they didn't feel any pain. While Vai was blazing upward, the other three were desperately trying to pull themselves upward. Nora was starting to slip, apparently exhausted. "Nora! Come on, you can't fall!" Krahn screamed, still pushing forward with all of his might. "I- I'm sorry-" Nora heaved, almost sounding like a sob. "Detonate! Right now Nora!" Krahn shouted, seeming desperate for a solution. "Krahn, what the hell are you doing?!" Mano shouted, almost reaching the top, where Vai already waited impatiently. Nora only groaned as her baller exploded, and her body fell towards the abyss. Krahn had detonated his own baller at the exact same time, and grabbed her wrist as they both fell. Krahn's baller encased the both of them now as it reappeared, and it clung to the wall by a thread before Krahn pushed it upward with all of his strength. Krahn eventually made it to the top, with about 20 seconds left to spare. When they both reached the checkpoint, it finally activated, adding thirty seconds to the timer. "Thank God it adds time," Vai sighed, pushing forward once again. "How will she get out of there?" Mano asked, starting to follow Vai. "I'll take care of her until we get out of here. She's like a twig, she can't handle much," Krahn answered almost immediately, following Vai closely. "Isn't the baller heavier?" Mano quiered, apparently irritated with him. "Didn't I just tell you? She's a twig, she basically weighs nothing. Don't worry! Let's go," Krahn replied, leaving Mano behind as he stared.

"Vai, what's that?" Krahn asked, terrified as a massive stick, turning clockwise, was hurtling towards them. "Ink stick. We can jump on top of it with the baller, but it would kill us if we hit it ourselves without armor. Keep calm, and stay on," Vai answered quickly, immediately challenging it and jumping on top of it. It flung her upwards and almost off of the platform, making Krahn gasp as he watched, but sighed when she fell to the other side of the stick. "Eek!" Krahn yelped, jumping over the stick and bouncing on it for a moment, nearly falling into the void below him, but thankfully making it over. Mano trailed behind him, seemingly eager to get out of the way of the stick.

Vai, still far ahead of everyone else, jumped onto another wall, this one instead having dash tracks on it to lessen the difficulty of the climb. Krahn and Mano both followed her closely, hurrying when they saw the ink stick coming back around. They landed on yet again, another smaller platform, with another wall towering above them, and an ink stick swinging just above Vai's head. Vai let out a short scream, startled by the ink stick that was previously concealed by the wall directly in front of her.

The four finally reached the top of the wall to another platform and miniature maze of ink sticks. There were two now, both of which were rotating clockwise. A narrow platform was in between them, only leaving an empty space for the group to pass through for a few moments, before one ink stick or the other would fly towards them and smack them off of it to their doom. Vai already plowed ahead and was past them, plummeting ahead of the rest of the group. Mano got ahead of Krahn, and was approaching the ink sticks with confidence. He leapt on top of one, and flung himself forward as quick as he could manage in order to escape the other ink stick that was fast approaching.

Krahn reluctantly followed, wanting to avoid the ink sticks all together. He paused for a moment, waiting for them to be out of the way completely, and sped forward after both Mano and Vai, blazing past the two sticks, and avoiding impact and confrontation with either of the two.

He landed down next to Vai and Mano, and a ringing sound echoed throughout the area, signifying that this was their last checkpoint. Krahn sighed in relief at the sound of it, and noticing another thirty seconds being added to the timer. While Nora was only barely conscious, Krahn and the others briefly observed what was before them. Moving platforms, along with another pair of ink sticks on both sides of them. "Well shit, isn't that dandy," Krahn grumbled, pulling at his face out of stress. "Krahn, stop that, we have to keep going, we're almost done," Vai called, starting to rush towards the platforms once again. Krahn groaned and pushed forward, remembering Nora's state, and making keeping her safe his priority and his motivation.

"Just keep focus, okay? We've got this," Vai called again, still bouncing ahead. Mano seemed lost in thought, trying his best to avoid falling and hitting the ink sticks simultaneously. "Gotcha," Krahn yelled back, uncertainty blatant in his quivering voice. "All we have to do is aim for those moving dash tracks up ahead, and get to the data point!" Vai shouted, already almost reaching them, with Krahn and Mano close behind. "Octotroopers!" Vai warned, already beginning to detonate her baller, along with Mano. There were four at the bottom, all of them alarmed at the sight of the three ballers flying above them. Both Vai and Mano's ballers exploded at the same time, terminating any octotrooper that was already there, and unlocking the data point. "Finally!" Krahn sighed, as Mano rushed forward to collect it, and complete the test.

After a few more moments, the train appeared in front of the group, its deafening roar bringing a strange sense of relief to them all, knowing that it was all finally over. Even with the arrival of the train, and about fifteen seconds left on the timer, Nora was still unresponsive, but not asleep.

They all boarded the train, Krahn carrying Nora inside. C.Q. came to greet them, seemingly pleased at their performance. "Congratulations on passing your second test. You're all doing a wonderful job," he remarked, commending the four on their hard work. "Thank you," Vai replied, smiling under her now simple black mask. "When is our next test?" Mano asked quickly, attempting to mask his eagerness to rid himself of his nerves. "Well, you all have unlocked a new station, and can complete that test, or the Bounce With Me station," C.Q. answered, but didn't seem to be finished with his explanation. "There isn't necessarily a time limit that you have to complete these tasks though, so you can take your time if you'd like. It all depends on how much of a hurry you and your friends are in to reach the promised land," C.Q. finished, looking up at Mano. Mano pondered for a moment, coming off as frustrated when he came to the conclusion that there won't be as much action as he anticipated. "Alright," Mano finally said, nodding to C.Q.

C.Q. nodded to them and returned back to the front of the train, while the three octolings sat down on the benches, Nora in Krahn's arms, and waited for their next trial.

[A/N: Hello all. Sorry for not updating this for a while, I've been quite busy. I do plan to update this a little more frequently, with the arrival of summer break. I hope everyone is doing well, and that a chapter with 3224 words will make up for my absence :) 3]


	12. Chapter Eleven - Tick

After a while, the four of them finally got around to completing Line A. After moving on to Line B, things seemed to get a little easier, and the tests seemed to require teamwork for the most part. There were a lot more tests now, and things were getting exhausting for the group. Weeks had passed since they had found Central Station, and all four of them had been working tirelessly in order to escape the underground.

"Hey, the last test we have to do for Line B is 'Rad Ride Station'..." Krahn remarked, leaning over Mano's shoulder as he stared with him at the new station that was unlocked for them, after they all breezed through another 8-ball station, which allowed them to unlock Line G, not long after unlocking Line I a few tests prior.

"What's that?" Nora interjected herself into the conversation, curious about their next task. "Ride the tower.. Hmm.. Seems easy, wonder what the hell it _actually_ means, since there's always a catch.." Mano muttered grimly, glaring at the screen projected in front of him. "It must be tower control!" Krahn yelped excitedly, a huge grin spreading across his face. Mano tipped his head at Krahn, and Nora just stared at him, silence stinging their ears for a few moments. "Ah, right. It's a ranked mode that inklings play on the surface! It's like turf war, but more competitive!" Krahn exclaimed, overenthusiastic about his explanation to his friends. "The inklings have to stay on a tower, and it moves along a preset path. Every once in a while, the tower will reach a checkpoint, and then the tower will stay still for a moment.. That's the scariest part, I think. After a moment, you'll start moving again, and you'll have to get past the other two checkpoints set along the path. It shouldn't be too hard, and I'm sure we'll get through it!" Krahn finally finished, seemingly out of breath. There were a few more moments of silence, before Mano heaved a sigh, and nodded slightly, clicking on the test. He only seemed worn out from Krahn's talking. His determination was strong as ever, his gaze hardened and focused.

After arriving at the train station, the four were able to pick three different weapons. They all had already found out that they could all pick an individual weapon if there was more than one option, and they all took advantage of that. Although they were still exploring what weapons they were good with, even Mano, they picked what looked appealing to them, and usually things turned out fine.

Krahn picked the range blaster & curling bomb, Nora and Vai took the aerospray & splat bomb, and Mano chose the hydra splatling & autobomb. "We ready?" Mano asked quietly, as he always did before they all began a test. Everyone nodded, Krahn noticeably more eagerly than the others, and Mano pressed the button.

They were all flung outside with their weapons, into a stage titled "Snapper Canal." A timer for five minutes flashed over their heads, causing their gazes to flinch upward to it. They all became slightly more anxious at the sight of it, and right when the timer began counting down, Mano huffed quietly and immediately swam on top of the tower, causing it to move forward.

Vai grabbed the special can containing a baller that was sitting in front of the tower, making sure she was prepared for trouble, and almost immediately after she suspected, an enemy octoling superjumped to a chunk of land to the immediate left of the tower, where Mano was left vulnerable while storing a charge of ink for his splatling.

As quickly as it had come, the octoling was gone, and Mano had already obliterated it, using the rest of his stored charge to ink the ground in front of him. Vai and Nora were walking around the tower, guarding it as well as inking the ground around it. Krahn had hopped on top of the tower, sitting in his ink with Mano as they surpassed the checkpoint and moved forward.

Soon after this, another octoling spawned, this time behind an inflatable block. This one appeared to have a brella, holding some kind of shield in front of itself. Mano swore under his breath quietly, and Krahn nodded curtly to him, sliding off of the tower, and quickly approaching the enemy from the left, while Nora flanked its right. Vai was hanging back, staying close to the tower in case there was another octoling that spawned nearby.

Krahn shot at it, getting a hitmarker on it just as it noticed him. It held up its shield and shot at him, causing him to panic slightly. Nora quickly splatted it from behind as it advanced on Krahn, nodding at him as they both quickly retreated back to the tower.

They all moved forward once again, now with Nora and Krahn covering the ground, and Vai climbing onto the tower with Mano. "Hey there, you're doing great," Mano remarked quietly, smiling at Vai slightly. Vai smiled back at him, her face starting to heat up. "Yeah, you too. The hydra splatling looks nice on you," she remarked, causing his smile to widen. He didn't say anything, but just stared at her, even in the midst of something as intense as this.

Another octoling spawning close by ripped them away from their trance, its wretched and soulless call making them shudder. Mano stored up a charge of ink and aimed at it, just as Krahn and Nora were heading towards it. "Another brella!" Nora called, the power of the aerospray being too meager to break through the shield. Vai slid down from the tower in front of the brella, attempting to break it on her own from the front. "Move." Mano commanded quietly, aiming the now fully charged splatling at the sanitized octarian. He finally released his grip on the trigger, concentrated blobs of ink mercilessly assaulting the shield and breaking it almost within an instant, and annihilating the octoling immediately afterward. There was a stunned silence for a moment, the other three octolings in awe at the strength of the hydra splatling, and the strategic use of such a weapon by Mano, which is a difficult feat. "L-Let's go," Mano stammered, seemingly flustered from the amazed stares of his teammates.

They obeyed wordlessly, the tower still moving with just Mano on top of it now, charging more ink to be prepared for another attack. As they quickly approached the other side of the map, another octoling appeared from what seemed to be nowhere, startling the group. As it cackled at their surprise, firing a heated blob of ink toward Vai with its blaster. It almost completely splatted her, if not for its aim being slightly off. This caused all the other three to spring into action, always ready to defend their friends.

As they all rushed toward it, the tower left empty, the enemy octoling lifted into the air, activating an inkjet. "Dammit!" Mano spat, charging up ink and aiming at the now difficult target. "Mano, get the hell out of there! You're too vulnerable!" Krahn shouted, swimming in his direction to attempt to defend him. Just as Krahn arrived, the other octoling was splatted, and Mano was nearly dead himself, covered head to toe in enemy ink and panting heavily. "Let's get the hell out of here, we're almost done anyway," Krahn reassured, patting Mano on the shoulder and urging him forward. Mano grunted as he recovered his ink and health, and Vai was back in shape, now taking the lead. Nora slithered onto the tower, staying hidden in the ink as Vai inked the ground in front of her, Krahn and Mano following close behind.

They all heard an enemy octoling call out, apparently jumping somewhere, but it wasn't seen anywhere on the ground. They all heard a short scream erupt from Nora, and saw enemy ink spread all over the top of the tower. They watched as the soul floated away into the sky, signifying its passing. Nora looked horrified, and was trembling slightly from the fright. "So they can also jump to the tower.." Krahn breathed, seemingly intimidated by this new information. "Guess so," Mano replied softly, his eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes blazing with excitement. "Are you enjoying this?" Krahn queried, shocked at his friend's reaction to this situation. Mano didn't respond, he instead stared forward for a few more moments before running after the tower. Krahn sighed quickly and pursued, starting to become tired and eager to finish.

They had just cleared checkpoint four, and were anxious to finish. Another octoling with a brella jumped to a spot a little further away from them, but was firing ink in their direction. It launched an ink storm directly at them, causing all four of them to gasp slightly. Mano had gotten back on top of the tower, now with Nora there as well. Nora quickly threw a splat bomb up at it while it was vulnerable, and splatted it. They were beginning to run out of time, and slowly become more and more panicked, with only thirty seconds left on the timer.

Immediately after one octoling was splatted, another jumped in, this time to their right, with another brella. Vai climbed up the wall and splatted it, but the ink storm did more damage to her after getting hit by the octoling, and she was splatted as well. "Vai!" Mano wailed, turning back to the spawn point, everyone's anxiety levels sharply inclining at the sight of fifteen seconds left on the timer, and everyone but Vai on the tower almost to the finish.

"We aren't going to make it," Nora sputtered, her body quivering from distress. "She can't swim that fast, no octoling can!" Krahn added, the stress in his voice just as prevalent as Nora's. There were ten seconds left now, and the tower had already reached the final checkpoint, but the test cannot be completed without Vai present.

The numbers continued to decline.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Right as the timer almost ran out, a thud was heard, the tower shook, and the noise sounded for the test being completed. "Vai! Thank God," Nora cried, clutching her friend, mostly trying to calm herself down more so than Vai. "There was a launchpad by the spawn point, I didn't know that until just then. Sorry guys," Vai explained quickly, causing relief to ripple throughout them. "Well thank the heavens for that, otherwise we would've been seafood by then," Krahn joked, his mood reverting back to its original enthusiasm.

They all returned to the station, once again awaiting their next trial, before Vai felt her head began to throb, and a fuzzy voice mumbled something in her mind. _"Hey, great work out there. All four of you are doing wonderful,"_ Iso's voice sounded in her head once more. "Thanks," Vai replied shortly, not really knowing what to say, and feeling a bit awkward. After a brief moment, a question flashed across her mind. "How can you see us?" Vai asked carefully, her voice tense. Iso didn't answer for a second. For a moment, Vai thought she heard a quiet chuckle, but she knew she was imagining it.

Soon after this, her left eye began to twitch, and she felt a warm liquid trickle out of it. She froze, her mind going completely blank as she raised a shaky hand to her cheek, where the liquid had dripped. She wiped something off of her face, and felt her heart drop at the sight of deep violet ink smeared on her fingers. "What the hell..?"


	13. Chapter Twelve - Foreign

"Vai, look, I know you don't want to admit it at a time like this, but something really is wrong here," Mano whispered, kneeling in front of Vai whilst she sat on a bench on the train, seemingly unbothered, or just distant. She didn't respond, her gaze fixated on something behind Mano, but not any object in particular. The tips of her fingers were stained deep violet, and the area underneath her nostrils was also darkened by the ink that dripped from them. To her relief, she was still wearing that black mask that Krahn had found a couple weeks ago, and never really took it off at all. She even wore it while she slept, which freaked out the other three octolings, and understandably so.

Iso's voice was distant and incomprehensible in the back of her head, and it seemed as if he was trying to communicate with her about something, but she subconsciously blocked it out, her minimal concern for his words being the reason as to why she refused to pay attention to him, or anyone else in particular.

Mano grunted, his annoyance becoming more apparent as moments of prodding went by. "What the hell is happening to you?" Mano hissed, his crimson gaze boring into Vai's bright yellow one. Her eyes flicked over to Mano, unfazed by his sudden desperation. She said nothing, only stared at him with a vacant expression, still frozen in place.

In actuality, Vai was just as confused as Mano, but she didn't know how to voice her concerns without revealing Iso's presence in her mind. She wasn't sure why Iso wanted to keep it a secret, but she decided it would be for her own good to stay silent of the matter if she was told to do so by someone like himself. She internally shuddered at the thought of what he could do to her if she disobeyed him, especially when she was in a considerably vulnerable place at the moment. _"You're really that terrified? Thanks, darling,"_ Iso spoke into her mind, making her grimace. "Don't flatter yourself.." Vai muttered, her eyes shifting back to the wall behind Mano and glaring at it.

"..What?" Mano pierced through her thoughts, her gaze clearing and returning to meet Mano's "..Did I say something?" Vai asked quietly, praying that her nervousness wasn't obvious. "I'm not sure, I couldn't make it out," Mano answered, his gaze softening slightly once she finally responded to him. It was silent for a moment before Vai replied again. "Okay," she said bluntly, slowly rising from where she sat and stretching. "..You're not going to tell me what you said?" Mano asked carefully, his curiosity breaking through his monotone voice. Vai hesitated before she responded, not exactly aware of the right way to answer that question without revealing her secret. "N-no," Vai said quickly, walking out of the cart she was in and rejoining with the others, and leaving Mano alone in the cart behind them.

"Hey Vai! Are you feeling better now?" Krahn immediately inquired, flashing her a huge grin as she walked in with him and Nora, who was sitting on a bench close to C.Q. "Yeah, I'm alright. Don't worry about me," Vai assured, smiling softly at them under her mask. "What happened back there? You had Mano worried sick," Nora asked, her voice quivering for a moment as her violet gaze locked with Vai's. "I- Um-" Vai fumbled for an answer, her gaze dropping to her boots. "I guess I just wore myself out," she finally chuckled, nervousness edging her tone. "But bleeding an ink color other than your own is pretty weird, Vai. It could be something a lot more serious," Nora sounded apprehensive as she walked over to Vai and placed a hand on her left cheek. Vai smiled slightly at the gesture, but gently swatted her hand away from her face.

"I'm alright. I know what I'm talking about, after all, I'm the next-in-line for the headmaster of the technology district," Vai said, confidence showing in her voice now, which wasn't like her. After a moment, Nora and Krahn's gazes fell to the floor, a look of gloom casting over their faces. Vai's smile disappeared as she practically read their minds.

They were all stuck out here. Cast out. Their ranks don't matter anymore.

After a few more moments of grief stricken silence, footsteps sounded behind the three, causing all of their heads to snap toward the source of the sound. "..Are you all really _that_ scared of me?" Mano asked, his voice sounding distant and hollow, like usual, but something was different now. The other three octolings were silent. "Whatever. That isn't new to me," Mano remarked coldly, glaring at all of his friends, almost accusingly. Guilt showered the three of them, causing their gazes to drift away from the fourth. "Vai," Vai flinched when she heard her name, confused as to why he would sound so aggressive. "Come with me," he commanded, glowering at her as she gulped nervously. Vai didn't respond, she only followed him out with a nod to her friends as he began to exit the train.

They walked in silence as Mano led the way to the opposite side of the clearing, coming to a stop next to what appeared to be rows of lockers, and a drink machine of some sort. Mano locked his intense gaze on Vai's, while hers was fixated on pebbles scattered on the dirty concrete floor. After what felt like forever, Mano finally sighed quietly, his gaze softening slightly, and his eyebrows relaxing.

"Listen," Mano began, leaning against the lockers with his arms folded over his stomach. Vai didn't move, still staring at the ground beneath her. She didn't really know what to say. She wasn't just scared of Mano, she was also scared of Iso, but she tried as hard as she could to stop thinking about it, just so Iso wouldn't interject as an intimidation tactic. "Vai," Mano said in a harsher tone, his voice starting to raise in volume. Vai's gaze shot up to meet Mano's, almost with defiance. "What is going on? You do know that I'm asking because I care, right?" Mano prodded, tilting his head slightly and barely leaning forward to match Vai's height. Vai didn't respond, but she still held his gaze, although shakily.

"You can't keep this up! We're all depending on you here, you're the brains! We can't afford to have you being all secretive and shit!" Mano snarled, his irritation starting to boil over. "So we all of a sudden don't rely on Krahn's knowledge of the culture we're forcing ourselves to integrate into? We don't rely on Nora's emotional support and care? Oh, don't tell me, we don't rely on your incredible strength either?" Vai hissed back, her annoyance also reaching its peak. "That doesn't matter right now, don't dodge the question! What the hell is going on with you?! We need you!" Mano yelled, clenching his fists as he leaned closer, causing Vai to recoil slightly. "This isn't all about me! You don't need only me!" Vai cried, desperation and guilt crushing her anger now. Mano paused, taken aback by her response. "S-stop putting t-this pressure on m-me!" Vai sputtered, starting to tremble and back away from Mano, inching toward the door of the train. "Vai, wait-" Mano called, regret and despair making his throat swell.

Vai stared at him for a few more moments, then fled back to the train, running inside and slamming the door shut behind her.

Mano stood there, struck dumb by what had just occurred. His head then tilted toward the floor, his eyes clamped shut as he gritted his teeth, his fists clenched, and a nervous sweat beading on his forehead. "D-dammit.." Mano cursed softly, guilt tearing at his heart for what he had said to Vai. Mano then spun around, let out an ear piercing roar of frustration, and slammed one of his fists into a locker, leaving a noticeable softball sized dent in the thin metal. He huffed quietly, staring at it, and then looking down to his now bleeding knuckles, watching bright pink ink drip from the wounds. He didn't even feel it. He was overcome with anger and despair, so much so he couldn't even feel anything physically.

After a few more moments of silence, Mano straightened himself, gathering his thoughts and steadying his breathing. He just stood there where he was for a few more moments, letting himself calm down a little more before going back to the train. He tried to brainstorm something to announce once he returned to his friends, but he just couldn't think of any good excuses. He stifled a heavy sigh, and slumped his shoulders, feeling downtrodden and hollow.

Hushed murmurs softly brushed against Mano's ears, causing him to flinch upward. "..The hell?" Mano muttered quietly, slowly turning around to where he assumed the source of the sound was. He looked toward the gaping void leading toward the deserted area the group escaped from only weeks before, confirming that the whispers were being carried from that tunnel, and that at least two other creatures were conversing and approaching him on the tracks.

Mano quickly slunk to a dark corner next to the lockers, taking advantage of the shadows and staring into the dark tunnel intently as the voices gradually became louder and more audible. Two silhouettes finally emerged from the tunnel, their features ambiguous to Mano at first, due to the poor lighting.

Once they were completely exposed under the LED lights of the central station, their identities unknown, but their forms distinguishable. One of them was a male humanoid figure with tan skin and blue gray eyes, along with long blue gray tentacles brushed to the side of his face. He was wearing a dark gray cropped turtleneck tank top, and dark gray pants with the waistband being the same color as his ink. His pants even extended to his feet, leaving open space for his toes. He also wore a sleeve on his right forearm, and a wristband on his left hand, both of which being the same color as his shirt and pants. The only thing unusual about his thing was that he appeared to be an octoling, since he has suction cups on the colorful part of his tentacles, but he had weird brush-like things protruding from both sides of his face where his ears should've been. Those were the same blue gray shade as his ink color, but Mano had no idea what they were, and they looked so unusual.

The other one, also a male, had unusually pale skin and was tall and lanky. He had piercing icy blue eyes, and looked more like an inkling. He was wearing something rather simple, a black v-neck tee and black shorts, with peachy stripes on each side of his shorts that matched his ink color. He also wore wooden sandals that appeared to be worn with kimonos or yukatas, or just "summer" themed apparel, as dubbed by Krahn, and seen in the magazines he's obsessed with. His tentacles looked like a lighter shade of blue gray, and had a peachy gradient to them. His tentacles didn't have any suction cups at all, which was weird, and they draped over the right side of his face at shoulder length. He also had a notch in the only eyebrow that was visible. Underneath his eyes were two triangles, both of them black, and presumably being part of the mask that either inklings or octolings have, but these two things were clearly different. This creature also had pointy ears, the one on the right side of his face looking torn up and scarred, which made Mano grimace. The only astonishing feature that stood out the most about the two of them was the shark tail that the more pale and icy eyed one had. Mano couldn't take his eyes off of it, since he's never seen something like that before.

Suddenly, the shark creature stopped, his icy gaze locking on to Mano's hiding spot and making him freeze where he stood. "Who the hell are you?"


End file.
